No Regrets
by jstarrh
Summary: When Renee gives Bella a trip for graduation it turns out to be more than she ever imagined it could be.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N – This was my story that I wrote for the Twilight Gift Exchange. So the good news is that it is already complete so it shouldn't take me too long to post._

_Thanks to Tiggrmommi for her help as always._

_I do not own._

It was graduation. Finally I was done with high school and I could get away from this small town where I never felt like I had actually belonged. I tried to pretend to be excited for my parents and to show that this whole affair actually meant something to me when all I really wanted to do was wave goodbye and get out of here. I would never see these people again of that I was already certain. But as with most things that I did in my life this act was for them. For them I pretended to be excited about this graduation ceremony. After the ceremony was over I stood in the middle of the crowd waiting for my parents to find me. I knew from experience that it was better for me to not move and let them come to me. I could hear my mother before I could see her. I internally cringed when she caught sight of me and ran through the crowd and flung herself at me hitting a few people along the way. I apologized to them as she babbled excitedly while dabbing away tears from her eyes. She was muttering some inane nonsense about her baby being all grown up when Charlie and Phil made their way over to me. Charlie hugged me awkwardly and Phil patted me on the back. We stood there staring at each other for a while before Renee squealed and grabbed something from her purse.

It was an envelope with my name clearly written on it. She was so excited when she handed it to me that there was no doubt that it was my graduation present. I opened it apprehensively. Scared at what she could have given me that would have her so excited. As I took out the paper that was inside I looked at it in shock. In my hand I held a plane ticket to Greece. I had always wanted to go to Greece and for once I allowed myself to actually believe that my mom listened to me when I spoke. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and then she uttered something that stopped them immediately.

"We will have so much fun together," oh no, she was coming with me. I didn't question the fact that I was perfectly happy going to a strange country completely alone. "I already have a bus tour scheduled and…" I knew that she continued talking but at this point I had already tuned her out and was trying to figure out ways to get out of what was sure to be an unmitigated disaster. It was hard enough for me to take care of Renee in the United States I wasn't sure if I had the strength to take this fiasco international.

She was watching me intently so I plastered a smile on my face and hugged her. I was an A student surely I could figure out some way to get out of this. Stomach ache, head cold, swine flu? There had to be something. I had five weeks to find a way out of this trip.

_I know it was very short but the next bit will be coming tomorrow or maybe even later on tonight if I get the chance._

_Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed._

_Jaime_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N – See told you it wouldn't be long! Thanks for the great response. Here you go._

_I do not own._

_Five Weeks Later _

All my plans hadn't worked. I had pretended to be sick, to not have a passport, that time of the month anything and everything but she was not to be deterred. So here we sat on a plane heading to Greece. To be honest I was excited even if Renee was already attracting attention with her outfit. I mean I suppose that in Florida hot pink was still a popular color but not so much when you were flying out of Seattle Airport. As the plane began taxing down the runway I opened up my magazine and prepared for the hours that I had ahead of me.

Thankfully Renee was capable of sleeping virtually anywhere so within minutes she was snoring lightly against my shoulder and I was able to read uninterrupted for the next few hours. Suddenly she jerked awake and I was subjected for the next few hours to unsolicited Renee commentary. She filled me in on everything that I had missed while living with Charlie. I stopped her just short of sharing information regarding her sex life with Phil. Everyone had to have their limits and that was definitely mine. I didn't need to know why Thursday was circus night at their house.

She decided to spend our last hour trying to convince me to attend FSU despite the fact that I was starting in three weeks at Dartmouth. She was convinced that even though I hadn't applied at FSU that if I showed up on the first day and they saw me that there was no way that they would be able to refuse me. As far as she was concerned no one in their right mind could refuse me. It was painfully obvious that my mother had never applied to or gone to college.

Finally after telling my mother that I would not be attending FSU for what had to be the 50th time we began our descent into Athens International Airport. I had spent all my energy trying to avoid this trip that I hadn't spent a lot of time investigating the details behind it. This meant that my mom had planned everything and suddenly I began to panic and hoped that we actually had a place to sleep before our bus tour began tomorrow. The last thing I wanted to do was spend the night in the airport.

"Mom, where exactly are we staying tonight?" I tried to keep my voice from betraying my dread.

"Well I looked on the internet for a HoJo but didn't have any luck so I decided that my baby girl only graduates from high school once and I was going to go all out," she smiled at me. She had effectively not answered my question. What did this mean? Had she found a Best Western, a Holiday Inn?

"Well great Mom. So what did you find," please, please let us actually be staying in a hotel and not some youth hostel that she found or better yet some friend she met online who was going to let us stay at their house. I wanted to actually make it home alive.

"Don't look so worried Bella. We are staying at The Grand Bretagne Hotel, nothing but the best for my little girl," I had no idea what my mother's idea of the best was but anything with the name Grand in it couldn't be too bad. Plus it appeared that someone was standing there with a sign with my mother's name on it to take us to the hotel. Things were definitely looking up.

It was a short drive from the airport to the hotel and when we got there I wasn't prepared for what met my eyes. It was nothing short of amazing. The imposing white building seemed to take up the whole block. While we were waiting for our luggage to be unloaded I stood in front of the hotel and looked up at what seemed like endless rows of windows. Words couldn't describe how awe inspiring it was. When we entered the lobby I stood just looking around at the understated decorations while my mother checked in. To say that I felt out of place would be putting it mildly but for once I decided to just not care and enjoy the moment. Sometimes I envied my mother, she had the ability to be at ease in any situation, it wasn't that she didn't care I just don't think she was aware half the time.

I watched people passing by as I waited for Renee to check in. Everyone's lives seemed far more exciting than my own as they rushed off for the places they needed to be. Soon though I would be at college and things would be different there. I wouldn't be known as clumsy Bella Swan, the police chief's bumbling daughter. It was time for a fresh start and I couldn't wait. Well there was no place like a foreign country to begin the reinvention.

When we got to our room I walked around and checked out everything. The deep blue/green carpet reminded me of the color of the ocean as we had flown in. The white comforter gave the room a clean and fresh feeling. I stepped over to the open windows and admired the view from our room. I could actually see the Acropolis from our bedroom. I wanted nothing more than to explore the hotel and its surroundings but it was 11am and we had been traveling all night and I was exhausted. I walked back into the living room and found Renee passed out on the couch so I headed back into the bedroom and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up to the sight of Renee hovering over me.

"Can I help you mom?" The sunlight was streaming into the room hurting my eyes after what must have been only a few hours of sleep.

"Wake up Sleeping Beauty. We didn't come all this way to sleep. Let's go walk around and explore before dinner tonight." I pushed her away from me and got out of bed to get ready. She was right. We were sitting here in the middle of Greece, I shouldn't be sleeping. Tomorrow our 3 day bus trip started so we wouldn't be able to explore Athens again until after we returned.

Within a few minutes we were outside in the warm sun not sure which direction to head. The Parthenon was only 1 kilometer away and so we decided to head in that direction. We spent the day walking around the ancient grounds and playing tourist. It was amazing to be standing in a place with so much history. We couldn't take enough pictures and my mother didn't hesitate to stop any person within her reach to take our picture. I'm sure that in every one of those pictures my face was bright red due to the fact that my mother would just basically grab someone by their shirt and thrust a camera into their hand. Despite that, I can honestly say that it was one of the best afternoons that I have ever spent with my mother. When we weren't surrounded by people that we knew my mother's antics didn't seem nearly as bad.

As we walked back down the street to our hotel we were both exhausted but my mother insisted that we go out to dinner before we settled in for the night. She had a gleam in her eye as she said these words and I knew that she was up to something but I decided to just enjoy it. This trip was about enjoying ourselves and I was going to do just that.

My mother insisted that we dress nice for dinner. We walked down the hallway and got into the elevator. I was about to press the down button when Renee pushed my hand out of the way and pressed the button for the top floor. When we stepped off the elevator the view took my breath away. The Acropolis was lit up against the night sky and it looked like I could almost reach out and touch it.

We were led to a table at the edge of the dining room and I immediately noticed that we stood out. The room was filled mainly with couples but as usual my mom was at ease. There appeared to only be one couple that was around my age. They stood out in the room of mere mortals. She was petite but her skin almost glowed she was so fare. Her ink black hair set off her complexion perfectly instead of making her appear washed out. Then I turned my attention to him. It was proper that we were in Greece since he looked like a Greek god with his chiseled face. His jaw bone looked like you could have taken a protractor to it and actually figured out the angle. My mother noticed me staring and swung her body around to see what I was looking at.

How to put this nicely? Well discretion has never been a particular strong suit of my mothers. After she swung her body around she said loudly enough to earn us a few stares.

"Wow Bella, he is hot. Do you want me to invite him to eat with us?" She was standing up before I managed to stop her.

"Mom, NO," the couples around the room were laughing at my mother. I was used to this so it didn't even faze me. But then I looked briefly back at the couple that had originally caught my attention. He was staring at us with a perplexed look on his face while his date was smiling in our direction. With a simple shake of his head he turned his attention back to her and effectively dismissed me.

I sat back down at the table and ignored the heat on my face. I was determined to shake this off and enjoy the rest of my dinner. After all we were in a foreign country and we were leaving tomorrow morning on a bus trip so there would be no more chances to embarrass myself around him. I focused my attention to my mother and we ordered our dinner and talked while we waited for it to arrive.

Everything was going great when halfway through dinner she grabbed my hand. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Bella, it's hard for me to believe that you are going away to college soon. I've thought of you as grown up for so long that it is hard to believe that it has actually happened. I just want you to know that I am proud of you. I wanted this trip to be our one last little hooray," she had gotten progressively louder as her speech had gone on once again garnering the attention of the dining room around us. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the young couple watching us again. Adonis (as I had taken to calling him in my mind) was rolling his eyes while his date laughed at something he said. I tried my best to ignore the feelings of inadequacy that bubbled up and focused on Renee.

"Thanks Mom for everything. We'll have a great time on this trip," we both smiled and refocused on our entrees. We were both fading fast and tomorrow was going to be a long day so we wanted to be rested. We paid our bill and headed back to the elevators. We were both exhausted by the time we got back to our room that we barely said goodnight before we were both fast asleep.

The next morning I woke up excited. Normally the thought of three days on a bus would nauseate me but this was a different situation. The last time I had taken a bus trip with my mother was in the fifth grade when she thought it would be more exciting to take Greyhound to visit Grandma and Grandpa than to fly. I think it had more to do with the cost as opposed to the adventure but even at that age I knew when to hold my tongue. To this day I still can't forget the smell that permeated the bus. I threw away all my clothes when we got back and every time I see a Greyhound bus on the road it still makes me shudder. I had high hopes that this experience would be different. After all it was three days touring the sites of Greece not the highways of Texas, how bad could it be?

_A/N – Next chapter coming later on tonight!_

_Thanks for reading._


	3. Chapter 3

We took the shuttle from the hotel to the bus departure area. I was getting more excited by the second and my mom was acting like a 4 year old on Christmas morning. Normally her behavior would bother me but we were in a foreign country and while her chances of embarrassing me were high the chances of seeing anyone that I actually knew or cared about were less than zero so I let her enthusiasm carry me away. To be honest it wasn't very often in my life that I got to be young and carefree so although it was sad that I had to travel halfway across the world to get this feeling I was going to enjoy it.

We waited around with a growing group of people. It appeared that everyone was about three times my age but it still didn't bring me down. Everyone waiting was chattering with excitement about the trip ahead and my mother and I started chatting with those around us. Mauve and Henry were celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary, Peter and Nina were on their honeymoon, and Carlisle and Esme were here with their twins celebrating their graduation from high school. Carlisle and Esme were about Renee's age but they reminded me of the couple from last night for some reason. It almost hurt to look at them they were so breathtakingly gorgeous. I didn't feel uncomfortable around them though because unlike the two last night they actually seemed approachable and friendly so my mother and I talked with them while we waited to board the bus. Esme would occasionally scan the crowd as if looking for something.

She noticed me watching and smiled at me, "Sorry, not trying to be rude but I'm waiting for Edward and Alice to get here. He was trying to help her condense her luggage since we are only going for three days not three months. He is the only one who can make her see reason sometimes so we left her in his capable hands," I was laughing with her when I saw her smile and wave across the crowd. "Finally," she whispered.

I turned in the direction that she was looking and for once instead of turning bright red all blood drained from my face. It was them, of course it was them. There was some small comfort in the fact that they were brother and sister and not boyfriend and girlfriend but there was no ignoring the fact that it was exactly these types of people that I had spent my life avoiding. I never fit in with the beautiful people at school and they were far above and beyond anything that Forks High School had to offer. I uttered some nonsense about finding a bathroom and ran away before Edward and Alice got to their mother. I stayed hidden until I saw the bus starting to load and quickly made my way back to the line. My mother had entered the bus without me and so I looked around once I got in trying to find out where she had sat.

Of course she was sitting across from Carlisle and Esme. Alice and Edward were sitting in front of them. Edward appeared to be trying to find a good location for his long legs. They stretched out in front of him and I tried to not notice the muscled perfection in front of me as I walked down the aisle.

_Focus on making it to the seat Bella, focus. Don't look at his legs…the way his hair covers his muscles, his muscles, goodness even his toes were perfect, he had kicked off his flip flops and was wiggling his toes. His toes…._

I was so enthralled with looking at his toes that I had failed to notice the purse sticking out halfway into the aisle in front of him. Luck was never on my side and today appeared to be no different. Before I even had a chance to right myself I was going down. I closed my eyes preparing for the feel of the hard floor against me and was surprised when a pair of arms broke my fall.

I just stayed there for a second not wanting to open my eyes. I dared to hope that it wasn't him who had caught me. Please let it be anyone but him.

"Are you okay," the voice was like velvet in my ears. Was there nothing about this man that wasn't perfection? Trying to be covert I inhaled quickly and confirmed that he was indeed perfect. His scent drew me in, I wanted to just cuddle into his chest and smell him for the rest of the day. Eventually he cleared his throat reminding me of exactly where I was and I pushed myself off him quickly almost falling again the process. I mumbled thank you and made my way to my seat looking out the window and avoiding all eye contact.

My mom decided that the best thing to do would be to ignore me and she continued on with her conversation with Esme as if nothing had just happened. I could feel eyes on me and I assumed that they were his and so I continued to stare out the window even though we hadn't even begun to move yet. I stared and daydreamed about meeting him under different circumstances. Circumstances where I didn't make a fool of myself and somehow he saw me and noticed something that no one else had and he….

"Bella…Bella," crap, how long had she been calling my name?

"I'm sorry, did you need something," I pulled my attention from the window and looked in Esme's direction.

"I just wanted to introduce you to Edward and Alice. Seeing as how you all are the same age I thought you might get along," there was that damn blush again. Perhaps I would change my major to chemistry and go to medical school and find a way to stop blushing. It was never convenient.

"Bella these are my children Alice and Edward," I waved my hand and smiled not sure of exactly what to say to either of them. Alice quickly fixed that, she almost vaulted herself over Edward and pushed him over to the window and started talking non-stop.

"Oh Bella you don't know how happy I am to meet someone my own age on this thing. I mean there is Edward but really how much time can you spend with your brother?" _I'd be willing to spend lots of time with your brother. _At least I managed to not say that out loud. "So are you going to college Bella? Where are you going? What are you going to major in? What did you participate in at school?" It continued on like this until our first stop. I noticed that occasionally Edward would move his gaze from the window to us as we talked but he never joined in despite the fact that Alice tried on several occasions to involve him. Her face lit up when I told her what college I was going to and she looked pointedly at Edward but still he said nothing.

So I just talked and talked. She knew nothing of the shy withdrawn Bella so why not be someone different here. I would never be able to capture the energy that she seemed to have but I could at least make more of an effort than I usually would. I was surprised to find that it really wasn't as horrible as I had always imagined it would be.

Time flew by as we talked and before we knew it we were at our first stop. Alice and I walked down the aisle while Edward hung back with his parents. I looked back at him and then decided to not let it bother me. I had Alice to hang out with and Renee seemed to be doing good with Carlisle and Esme. If Edward wanted to hang out with his parents than who was I to stop him.

As we walked out into the bright sunlight I decided to risk asking Alice about her brother even though I didn't know her that well. The worst case scenario would be that we would avoid each other for the rest of the bus trip.

"So is Edward always that friendly?" I avoided her eyes hoping that I hadn't upset her. I was surprised when I heard her laughing.

"Edward has always been a bit introverted. My parents joke that all the outgoing genes went to me and then there was none left over for him. I've never seen him act quite this bad before. I have a theory for that you know," she smiled at me and the devious look in my eyes had me worried.

"Okay, what would that be?" We had wondered off by ourselves and so there was no fear of anyone overhearing us.

"Well I think it has something to do with you." Me? Why in the world would I have any effect on him? I decided that Alice might be a little bit crazy.

"Um sure Alice, I suppose you know him better than I do," I started to walk again not liking the direction that this conversation was heading in.

"Bella stop and listen to me. You didn't see his reaction last night at dinner. He couldn't stop looking at you. I recognized your mom on the bus immediately today but he didn't put two and two together. When he saw you walk on the bus his whole body tensed up. I've never seen him react that way to anyone before." I don't know what kind of games she was trying to play with me. Maybe this is something the two of them worked up for fun. Find some unassuming girl who liked like it would be easy to toy with her emotions. Well I wasn't going to be part of their sick little game.

"So what you are trying to tell me is that I render your brother mute and unsocialable? I suppose it could be worse, I could cause him to vomit uncontrollably too," I had to laugh because the alternative to what she was saying was unthinkable and unlikely.

"Oh Bella you are funny. Don't worry you have me on your side and I have a feeling that things are going to work out quite well," she got a gleam in her eyes and before I could stop her she was taking off down the pathway and I didn't even try to keep up with her. I saw her approach Edward who had just finished taking a long drink of water. A small drop of it stayed at the corner of his mouth and it sat there glistening in the sunlight. I sat there staring, focused on the drop of water when I noticed that they had both turned to stare at me. Flustered I felt myself turn bright red. I swung around quickly hoping that they hadn't noticed me staring and proceeded to run right into a trash can causing it to fall down and spill trash across the sidewalk.

I got down on my knees mumbling to myself under my breath. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. He had to notice you staring at him. Even if he didn't he had to have noticed you knocking down the trashcan. Way to go Swan, way to go…_

I was interrupted by a shadow falling over my pile of trash. I ignored it. I had a feeling that I was better off that way. Immediately I stopped mumbling to myself and increased my efforts at picking up the trash. Two hands joined in my effort. They were long and pale with fingers that I couldn't tear my eyes away from, they were so graceful. I determinedly picked up now, avoiding him at all costs. When at last there was no trash I was forced to get up from the ground and face him.

The sun was behind him so it was impossible to actually see his face just the sun shining around his head like a halo. He held out his hand to me to help me up. There were no other readily available options so I grabbed it and tried to focus on the hand and not the face. I was successful up until the point where I was standing next to him. The sun no longer blocked his face and I looked up into his green eyes and couldn't focus on anything else. I vaguely noticed his messy hair and crooked nose; his mouth had a hint of a smile. There was no way around it, he was gorgeous. This type of boy did not usually talk to me so I had no experience from which to draw on. I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I mumbled a hasty thank you and ran to the nearest bathroom. Looking at my watch I realized that I would be hiding here for the next hour.

_A/N Thanks again for reading. More coming very soon._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N Sorry this took so long to update. Was sick the last week so even though it was written I wasn't up to updating._

_Thank you to Tiggrmommi who is honestly one of the best things to happen to me during this whole fanfiction experience! I can't thank you enough._

_Thank you to all of those who are reading this, makes my day when I get a review._

_I do not own._

I should have known that luck wouldn't be on my side. It never was so why would today be any exception, especially after that little display out there. Within seconds I could hear my name being called.

"Bella, Bella," it kept getting closer and I knew that she would find me.

"I'm in here Alice," I walked out of the bathroom and went over to the sink to wash my hands. "I take it that you were a witness that little display out there." I dried my hands and turned to face her.

"I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't witness that display," she giggled. She stopped as soon as she saw the look on my face. "Oh Bella, don't worry about it. He came right away to help you didn't he? I told you that there was something there," she was smiling at me and I had a feeling that I was supposed to be excited too.

"Sure, just what every guy wants. Someone he has to constantly rescue from herself," it didn't seem like much of a selling point to me.

"Of course Bella, where have you been? That is what every guy wants. Some girl who makes him feel like a hero. Every guy wants to feel needed, even if they complain about it. Never forget that okay," I just nodded because it was obvious that that was the only answer that she was going to find acceptable. "It's the same for girls though Bella, every girl wants the bad guy. Nothing makes a guy more attractive than being perceived as dangerous. If he tells you to stay away from him then he is suddenly ten times more attractive. It's a simple fact of life Bella," she said all of this as if it was common knowledge.

"So are you trying to tell me that I should stay away from your brother because he is bad for me?"

"Nothing could be further from the truth actually. He's too kind and sensitive for his own good sometimes. He doesn't date much but when he does he treats the girl like a goddess and then she always ends up breaking his heart and running away with the bad guy," Alice looked sad and I wanted to change the subject to distract her.

"So, what made you come to Greece?" It worked and she rambled on about history and her parent's honeymoon for a while and before long she was sufficiently distracted. She convinced me that hiding out in the bathroom was not the best way to spend my limited time in Corinthus. We walked out of the bathroom and before long it was time to get back on the bus.

Edward was waiting for us in the bus and smiled at me when we walked down the aisle toward him. Alice took the seat across from him and I went to sit next to her when she stuck out her legs quickly.

"Bella I hope you don't mind but I wanted to rest a little before we got to the next stop. I think I am still a bit jet lagged." She curled into a ball on the seat and closed her eyes. I looked for my mother when he spoke to me.

"You can sit with me. I promise I don't bite," I looked around one last time for my mother before I nodded my head and got into the seat next to him. I tried to breathe inconspicuously but it sounded more like I was hyperventilating.

"Are you okay?" Okay, I could do this. I could talk to him without making a fool of myself. He didn't know me so he didn't know about my bumbling adventures in Forks. As far as he knew I was the most wanted girl in high school.

"Yes, I am fine. Sorry I was just thinking of something else," I turned and saw him smiling at me and all rational thought left my head again. I think I managed to smile back and didn't look too odd because he started talking again.

"Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk earlier. Alice has a tendency to monopolize conversations," we both looked over at her. She appeared to be sleeping except for the smile that was on her face now. "She's an annoying thing most of the time," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear and we both laughed as her smile turned to a scowl.

He held out his hand. "I'm Edward by the way," I grabbed his hand and seeing his fingers earlier did nothing to prepare me for the way they felt when wrapped around my hand. Once again I was rendered mute. He just shrugged his shoulders and continued talking as if I hadn't just ignored him.

Eventually I decided to join the conversation and blurted out, "I'm Bella," completely interrupting whatever he had been saying but he just laughed.

"Nice of you to join in," he grabbed my hand again, holding it for just a bit longer than necessary. "Pleased to meet you Bella," he smiled at me again and I decided to just let go. I only had three days with him so why waste any of it being shy.

"Thanks, the feeling is mutual," I think my responding smile shocked him because he looked down at his hands. "So Edward how did you get roped into a trip to Greece with your parents?"

He laughed. "They went on their honeymoon here 20 years ago and it's always been special to them. Now that Alice and I have graduated and are going our separate ways they wanted to do something special for us before life got too hectic. What about you? Could your father not make it?" He looked over at my mother who was sitting alone in her seat reading a book.

"No my parents divorced long ago," he looked ready to apologize and I held up my hand to stop him. "No, don't feel bad, believe me it is better that way. My mom knew that I always wanted to come here and this was my graduation present."

"I'll have to remember to thank your mom," he smiled at me and I could have sworn that he could hear my heart beat speed up since he started laughing as soon as it did. He seemed so tuned into me already and it made me feel vulnerable. I looked away from him and picked at some dirt on my knee from trash picking adventure.

"Bella check that out," he pointed out the window and for the rest of the short ride and told me different tidbits of information about Greece that I hadn't heard. This was his third time visiting the country and he was a wealth of information. The time passed quickly and before we knew it we were at our next stop. I looked back to see if my mother was okay before I exited with Edward. She had a huge smile on her face and waved me away. I knew that there was nothing to worry about.

He held onto my elbow as he helped me out of the bus and guided me around the Theatre of Epidaurus. We climbed up the stone steps to the very top of the theater and looked down at the people milling about. We sat down on the carved stone seats for a minute before continuing our tour of the theater. It was an interesting combination of areas that looked untouched by time and spots that were just piles of rubble. At one point I tripped on a pebble on the ground and he grabbed my hand to steady me. Once I was steadied though he left my hand in his and we explored again with our fingers entwined.

It was like we were in our own little cocoon. I didn't worry about my mother or his family I just wanted to live in the moment. I didn't want any other distractions to worry about.

"So Bella where are you going to college," he had been mostly quiet during my conversation with Alice earlier so he must not have heard my answer.

We had been keeping our conversation limited to historical anecdotes about our surroundings that I was surprised that he had asked a personal question. I made a split second decision and turned to look at him.

"How about we make a deal Edward," he looked at me confused. "Why don't we just enjoy these next three days. Get to know each other better. No talk about what happens after this. Just these three days, no worries, no regrets."

"I think I like that plan. Three days to just enjoy spending time with you, no worries," his face got closer to mine as he whispered the last two words. I looked up at him and my breath was getting a bit more difficult to catch. He moved his lips to my ear and said one more thing before grabbing my hand and leading me back towards the bus.

He had to pull on my arm to get me moving again. All I could think of were the words that he had whispered to me.

_I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know you better._

_A/N More coming tomorrow. Thank you again for reading!_


	5. Chapter 5

_See I told you it wouldn't take long. Here goes!_

_Tiggrmommi ….a huge thank you as always!_

_Thank you to everyone who is reading this! Your reviews make my day._

_I do not own_

I vaguely remembered getting back on the bus and sitting next to Edward. When the bus started to move again I was brought back to the present and looked at the man sitting next to me who was staring at me with a smile on his face.

"You tend to space out a lot don't you," he looked amused and I resisted the urge to smack him upside the head.

"No, I tend to think more often than most people. At least that is the way I prefer to describe," with anyone else I would have been annoyed but for some reason coming from him it just made me laugh. He reached for my hand and we sat there looking out the window at the scenery with our hands sitting in our laps. Occasionally he would rest his other hand atop ours and caress them with his fingers.

It was amazing to see the sheer beauty of the country as we drove through the hills. The water was dotted with boats and the color of the water defied reality. We had a few more short stops before pulling into Olympia for the night. I felt slightly guilty when I realized that I hadn't even talked to my mother since our first stop. We decided that socializing with others might be necessary so we made our way over to our families who had gathered together.

"Bella, these are my parents," I had met them briefly earlier in the day but somehow this felt more formal, like meeting your boyfriends family for the first time and I was nervous.

"Nice to meet you again Mr. and Mrs. Cullen," I held my hand out to shake their hands. I wasn't sure what the appropriate greeting was for this occasion.

"Oh Bella no need to be formal, I'm Esme and this is Carlisle. I trust the two of you have had an enjoyable day," she looked pointedly at our hands which were still joined. I knew from the warmth rushing to my face that I was bright red and I dropped Edward's hand immediately. Without hesitation he grabbed it back again and clutched it within his own.

"Mom, Dad, Mrs…," he looked at my mother not sure how to address her properly.

"Just call me Renee," my mother being well my mother walked up to him and hugged him.

He extracted himself from her grip all while holding my hand still. "Well Renee nice to meet you. I was hoping that no one would mind if I took Bella to dinner this evening."

The parents all looked at each other and smiled. I knew there would be no objections to this plan but I did feel bad for Alice as we were stranding her and forcing her to spend the evening with the adults but she looked so happy that I didn't dwell on it.

We said our goodbyes and Edward pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. We walked around until we found a small café that wasn't too busy. He held my chair out for me and sat across from me.

"Just so I am clear, what exactly are we allowed to talk about if we aren't supposed to get too personal for these next three days," he laughed but it seemed like it was forced.

"We can talk about growing up, talk about what we like to do, talk about our families. We can talk about anything but the future. I don't want to worry about what happens after this, I just want to enjoy. Agreed?" I was afraid to look up at him. I didn't want to see his reaction to this so I looked down at the silverware on the table.

"Agreed," he didn't sound hesitant this time and so I looked up at him and we smiled at each other. We ordered dinner and talked about our childhoods, our favorite things, anything and everything that didn't touch upon what happened after this trip was over. The food was excellent and at the recommendation of our waiter we decided to walk down the street to a club that was there.

"I don't think that this is a good idea. Dancing isn't my strong suit, anything that requires coordination isn't recommended for me," he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and I looked up at him.

"I won't let you do anything to embarrass yourself. Besides dancing is all about having the right partner," he leaned closer to me and his voice lowered. "I promise I will be the best partner that you have ever had."

It wasn't fair that he could affect me this way. All he had to do was talk to me and all rational thoughts left my mind. Why was I trying to find a way out of dancing with this man, why was I fighting having his body pressed against mine? I changed my mind, dancing was the best idea that we could have possibly come up with.

"Do you mind if I call Alice? I feel bad leaving her stranded with my parents for the night," he had his phone out but I could tell that he was making this my call.

"No, that wouldn't be a problem at all. I would like to get to know her better," he talked to her quickly and hung up the phone. I could hear her end of the conversation and I knew that she would be meeting us shortly.

We made our way to the club and found a table in the back. We both ordered a drink since technically we were of age in this country. I sipped on my margarita while we listened to the music. Edward stood up after a few minutes and held out his hand.

"Let's dance," he didn't ask, it was just a simple statement.

I slid out of the booth and joined him on the dance floor. The music pulsed around us and I know that there were other people on the dance floor with us but all I could focus on was him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me flush against him. Our bodies moved together and he rubbed his hands along the small of my back forcing me to come even closer to him. His hands moved up and down my back and I looked up at him as he began to sing along with the music that was playing. His voice was like chocolate pouring over me, it was rich and sensual and when the song ended we didn't move apart.

The next song was slow and we swayed together. I could feel my heart beating in my chest and when he moved his hands into my hair I shifted my face upwards. He moved a hand to each side of my face and lowered his face to mine. His lips met mine and everything around us faded, there was nothing but the two of us standing there joined on the dance floor. I wrapped my arms around him and continued to move my lips against his.

The need to breathe stopped us long before we were ready to stop. We both gasped for air and immediately returned to our kiss. We were both brought to reality again when the song sped up and people on the dance floor began to bump us since we hadn't moved for the past few minutes. Instead of continuing the charade of dancing we made our way back to our table where Alice was waiting for us.

"So having a good night?" She looked so pleased with herself as if she had planned this all along.

Edward slid into the booth first and I got in next to him. He didn't lose contact with me at any point. Some part of his body was always touching mine and I regretted inviting Alice to come meet us. All I wanted was to feel his lips on mine again. I had never even had a boyfriend and yet I wanted to do things with him that I had only dreamed about. No one had ever made me feel this way.

I did have a good time the rest of the night though. We danced with Alice out on the floor. Edward spent much of the night with his body pressed into my back and his head resting on my shoulder. It was an incredibly intimate position that we found ourselves in and the sweat running down my back had nothing to do with the temperature of the club.

It was getting late and the tour was starting early in the morning so we had to make our way back to our hotel. Alice slipped into the room she was sharing with Edward after giving me a quick hug good night and left us alone in the hallway.

"Finally," was all he said before my back was pressed against the wall of the hallway. His lips crashed against mine and I opened my mouth in surprise. He wasted no time in opening my mouth wider and his tongue found his way inside. He licked delicately at my tongue and I moaned into his mouth. I wasn't as delicate as he was as my tongue gained access into his mouth and I explored him. I wanted to taste him, every square inch of him. His hands were flat against the wall above me and he moved closer against my body. He began moving his body against mine and I responded on instinct.

We were standing in the middle of a deserted hallway rubbing against each other. I could feel the evidence of his arousal against me and I hesitated. He pulled his hands from the wall and pressed closer against me if that was even possible. His lips moved down my face while his hands moved along my body. When his hand closed around my breast I froze. No one had ever touched me in that way before and I hadn't even know Edward for 24 hours and I knew that we were moving much too fast.

"I think it is time for bed," I panted desperately trying to catch my breath and clear my head before I changed my mind.

"I think that you're right," I could tell that he was trying to compose himself.

I couldn't resist leaning in for one last kiss before I made my way to my room. It quickly got out of hand again and after five minutes we pulled away from each other again.

We both whispered good night over and over again before I finally closed the door and leaned against it. I turned to find my mother sitting in bed waiting for me.

"So Bella how was your date?"

_Damn it!_

_More on its way tomorrow._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N Told you I would be back quickly. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews._

_Tiggrmommi…you rock!_

_I do not own._

"It wasn't a date mom. We just went out to dinner together," I knew that if I could convince her that nothing was going on it would made things much much easier.

"Bella you don't go half way around the world and have dinner with some gorgeous guy and not call it a date," she rolled her eyes as if I were an idiot. "Did you at least kiss him? Even I can admit that he is gorgeous. Did you get a look at the entire family? It was like they won some kind of genetic lottery. I mean don't get me wrong dear you are beautiful but those four are just out of this world gorgeous. I can just see your kids now. They will have your brown hair and his green eyes, hopefully your coloring because although you are pretty pale that boy could probably glow in the dark…" She continued and I could tell that she had been veered off track successfully.

"Slow down Mom, one day at a time okay. I'm exhausted and ready for bed though. I promise you can talk to him in the morning," I went to my suitcase and pulled out everything I would need to get ready for bed. I went into the bathroom and stayed in there long enough to ensure that she would be asleep when I got out. I poked my head out twenty minutes later and she was sitting there waiting for me wide awake. So much for getting some sleep anytime soon. I walked my bed and waited for the questioning to begin again.

"So you never answered my question," she looked at me like I should know what exactly she was talking about.

"What do you want to know mom?" I just sighed and sat back hoping that I would be able to pacify her quickly.

"How did the date go? Did he kiss you? Are you getting together again tomorrow? I'll make other plans for dinner don't you worry. Esme told me that he is going to college at…" I cut her off there because I really didn't want to know.

"No Mom, Edward and I agreed that we wouldn't talk about the future," she looked at me quizzically but continued with her questioning.

"So do you like him? Do I need to get you protection? There was a store downstairs that I believe was open 24 hours. I can run down now if you would like," she was getting out of bed and looking for clothes already.

"Mom," she continued to search the room for pants.

"Mom!" She found a sweater that she pulled over her head.

"MOM!" That was what finally stopped her.

"What is it honey? Does he have something already? Do you?" She looked at me in amazement.

"Mom, I know that I don't live with you but what kind of girl do you think I am? I have known this person for less than 24 hours and I have no plans to do anything other than kiss him," if I hadn't been so dead tired I would have left the room right then. Instead I rolled over covered my head and turned off my lamp. "Goodnight mom," I could hear her take off her clothes and get back into bed. She did not turn off her light and I could feel her staring at me so I rolled over to look at her.

"Listen mom, I had a great time with him tonight. Yes I kissed him but we only met this morning so I'm not making any immediate plans with the guy. We are going to just enjoy the next two days with no strings attached. I appreciate your concern but I don't need a sex talk either," I still shuddered when I thought about that conversation with Charlie years ago. It went something along the lines of…._Bella boys want sex…Dad?...Don't let them tell you anything different that is all they are interested in…Um okay Dad…Always be safe…_he then threw condoms at me and rushed out of the room. I was not looking for a repeat of any such conversation any time soon.

"Just be safe Bella. You have your whole life ahead of you, please make sure that you use protection," I stuck my fingers in my ears and just started chanting at that point. I could see that her lips finally stopped moving so I removed my fingers.

"Got it mom and I will practice safe sex if necessary which it won't be," she looked pleased so I rolled back over and was asleep within minutes.

The next morning when I woke up I was nervous. Would he still want to spend time with me? Had I just imagined half of what had happened yesterday? Looking over the events of yesterday I was almost convinced that I had just had a very vivid dream. Nothing like this every happened to me. I was average looking at best and he was so far above average that it wasn't fair. We were on a time limit though so I couldn't exactly sit there and just dwell on it. I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day. Looking in my suitcase I cursed my desire for comfort over looking good. I hadn't brought any clothes that could be considered attractive to a man. I didn't even bring make up. Oh well it was too late now to dwell on my clothing options. I picked out my light blue t-shirt and shorts and got ready for the day. I decided to let my hair hang down my back today. That would be my one concession to vanity.

When I was finally ready I exited the bathroom and found my mom sitting on her bed smiling. She was really beginning to act goofy, even for her.

"Edward called," my heart sped up at just the sound of his name. "He wanted to know if he could take you down to breakfast this morning. I told him you would be ready in five minutes," there was a knock on the door. "In fact that is probably him now." I tried to take my time and not rush to open the door. I wanted to attempt to practice a little bit of restraint. Even though he had had me pressed against a wall last night I figured it was really never too late to start.

I opened the door and found him standing there in shorts and a white t-shirt. His hair was still slightly damp and it appeared darker than yesterday. I wanted to reach out and touch it but I was all about restraint today. At least that is what I kept chanting in my mind.

"Good morning Bella," I had forgotten how nice his voice sounded. "You ready for breakfast?" He smiled at me and all I could do was nod my head because I didn't really trust that anything coherent would come out of my mouth. He bid my mother hello and goodbye grabbed my hand and led me down to the elevator. We just stood there hand in hand while we waited for the ding of the elevator. When the doors opened I was pleased to find that we were alone. Apparently he felt the same way too because as soon as the doors closed he pressed me against the wall and began kissing me.

It was a wet hungry kiss and my hands wrapped around his back trying to explore every exposed inch of him. He did the same to me and we pressed closer together. The ring of the elevator doors forced us apart and we each spent a second trying to catch our breath. He raised his hand to my hair in an attempt to make me presentable. Our hands found each other's again and we walked off together when the doors opened. He leaned down in my ear and whispered, "I dreamt about doing that all night long."

My entire body trembled and I said nothing as we walked into the room where a continental breakfast was being served. I felt like all eyes were on me, like everyone knew what we had just been doing but the noise was just alive with the hum of people talking about the day ahead. I had to stop being so paranoid. This morning we were exploring the ruins of Olympia and then it would be a lot of driving from there on out. Followed by another night out before we returned to Athens tomorrow. Only one and a half more days until Edward and I were out of our dream world.

Esme and Carlisle were already in the dining room eating breakfast and they waved us over after we had gotten our plates of food. I looked around frantically for somewhere else, anywhere else to eat but Edward nudged me forward. I put my tray down on the table and attacked my bagel, stuffing a huge chunk of it in my mouth in hopes of avoiding conversation. They all just watched me as I nearly choked on my bagel and then downed a glass of juice to recover.

"So Bella are you enjoying the trip so far?" Esme seemed nice so I took another drink so that I didn't chance spraying her with bagel bits.

"Greece is beautiful. I have always wanted to come here. I'm having an amazing time thank you, what about you?" We talked effortlessly for a few minutes while Edward talked with his father. We had been talking about the must see sites in Greece when Esme suddenly changed topics.

"So are you excited about college?" She looked especially interested so we began talking about her college experience and how I was looking forward to getting out on my own. We talked about everything and surprisingly she never asked me about where I was going. I guess Edward had filled her in on our little arrangement and I was thankful because it certainly saved me from an awkward conversation.

As breakfast continued I felt more at ease and I couldn't help but admire how nice Edward's parents were. Alice came down and joined us and it was so comfortable just hanging out with his family. I felt like I had known them for more than just a day. We didn't have much time so we ate as quickly as we could and went up to our rooms to get our bags for the bus so that we could be on our way again. We were touring the ancient grounds of Olympia today and I was excited. History had always been one of my favorite subjects which lead to my desire to visit Greece. To actually be exploring a place that I had read so much about made me something I normally wasn't. I was downright giddy.

We all met back down at the bus and we sat around each other and chatted. Esme and Carlisle shared stories of their honeymoon and prior trips to the country. Edward seemed completely at ease sitting there with his arm wrapped around me. I couldn't tell if the warmth I was feeling came from the sun coming in through the window or from his nearness. I decided not to dwell on it. I wanted to enjoy this time and not worry about what might happen.

We spent the day exploring ruins, taking in the sights of the water from the bus. We stayed with our families the entire time and no one seemed shocked by our shows of affection throughout the day. Normally such things would embarrass me. Actually who was I kidding? I had never really been in a relationship where acts of affection were commonplace. I never had had a serious boyfriend. Being the daughter of the police chief tended to scare off small town boys.

Hand in hand we walked around. It seemed like we had walked for miles and all of us were exhausted as the bus pulled into the hotel in Delphi for the night. Edward had asked if I wanted to get away alone for dinner but I was having such a great time with our little group that it seemed a shame to break it up. We could always do something together later on that night if we had the energy. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Edward but it didn't necessarily need to be time alone.

We found a restaurant close to the hotel and all piled into a booth in the corner of the restaurant. We ordered some bottles of wine and the conversation flowed. We talked about our day, how much longer we were all staying in Greece once we got back to Athens. Esme wrote a list of things that Renee and I shouldn't miss. I was excited to find out that we would all be there for another three days after we got back to Greece. Esme winked at me as she offered to take Renee to a certain section of town for the day to explore. Normally Renee would worry about me being alone but after one look in Edward and I's direction she quickly agreed.

After dinner we all gathered outside of the restaurant trying to stifle our yawns.

"Would you like to go for a walk before bed?" I noticed our parents huddled together looking in our direction with rather large smiles on their faces.

"I'd love to," he placed my arm through his and we told our families good night and headed off down the street. The night air was warm as we strolled through the town. We were quiet, not in an uncomfortable way but in a nice pleasant way. We eventually made our way down to a bench overlooking the pitch black water.

"You know when we first got here I couldn't wait for this trip to be over. I didn't want to spend the weeks before college going on vacation with my parents but now I just want to thank them over and over again for dragging me along," I was surprised at the emotion behind his words. He squeezed my hand when he was done and I wanted to tell him that I felt the same way, that I thought that I could be falling in love with him, that I wanted to know where I could find him after all of this was over but I just couldn't seem to.

"Thank you," I whispered as I pulled his face down to mine. We spent the next hour sitting there kissing each other. Being out in the open restrained us from going any further than that and for that I was both grateful and frustrated. I wasn't sure how far I was willing to go with someone I hardly knew and that I would likely never see again and I wasn't ready to put myself in a position where I actually had to decide.

Eventually we managed to pull ourselves away from each other and walk hand and hand back to our hotel. He walked me to my door. Although it wasn't a repeat of the previous night it was just as intense. When our lips touched I could feel it throughout my entire body. When he left me I could feel the heat emanate from every square inch of my body. Thankfully my mom was sleeping when I got in that night. I wasn't alert enough to try to answer any questions tonight. I changed my clothes and fell into bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

_Okay more on its way. Thank you very much for reading._


	7. Am I Ready?

_A/N Hey sorry about the long wait, here you go._

_Thanks to TIggrmommi and I do not own._

dreamt of nothing but Edward all night long. These dreams weren't particularly PG-13 and I rushed from my bed and into the shower before my mom woke up. My skin was clammy from the thoughts that filled my mind. In my dream Edward had been touching my body everywhere. He left no area uncharted and I was putty in his capable hands. I woke up covered in sweat and my body was throbbing with desire. I took an ice cold shower. I had to calm down if there was any hope of me not jumping him as soon as I saw him this morning.

A knock on the bathroom door brought me back to the present.

"Bella, you've been in there for over an hour. We're going to miss our bus," I turned off the water and got out of the shower. I was happy to see that my face was back to its normal color. There was a slight blue tint from the temperature of the water but at least I wasn't flushed all over anymore. I got dressed quickly and let my mom into the bathroom. She closed the door and started the shower immediately. She stuck her head out the door as I was finishing zipping up my luggage.

"Oh Edward called about 20 minutes ago to say that he would be waiting for you downstairs for breakfast," I was out the door before she even finished talking. The elevator was taking so long so I took the stairs instead. I opened up the door panting for breath and looked around hoping that I hadn't missed him.

I frantically searched the room thinking that he had given up waiting for me and he was gone. Then I found one last table in the corner and saw him sitting there reading a book. He looked up as if he sensed my approach and stood up to greet me. He gathered me in his arms and kissed me soundly on the lips. All of my memories from my dream came flashing back to me and I returned his kiss deepening it to a degree that wasn't quite acceptable for the middle of a restaurant. The sound of someone clearing their throat made us jump apart and we sat down at the table.

"Hungry," he asked and he pushed a granola bar my way. "I'll get you more of course but I'm not sure what you like to eat in the morning."

We really didn't know a whole lot about each other but it really didn't matter.

"This is fine thanks. I really don't eat a lot in the morning," he watched me while I ate the granola bar as if the simple fact of me eating intrigued him. I finished up quickly and we made our way to the front of the hotel with the other guests who were waiting to board the bus. Alice joined us and we made our plans for the day. We only had a few stops today so we would need something on the bus to occupy our time. The thoughts that I was having certainly weren't appropriate for a public location so I went along with Alice's plan to play cards. It seemed like a better way to pass the time. Well maybe not better but definitely more acceptable.

We spent the few remaining stops with Alice and I came to realize that although Edward wasn't shy I understood why people might think that when comparing him with Alice. She was so vibrant and never stood still. She was always going from one place to another and never seemed to run out of energy. Edward caught me staring at her on more than one occasion.

"When we were five I tried to use a screwdriver to remove her batteries one night."

"What?! You have to be kidding me," I couldn't imagine where a five year old would think that batteries might be placed.

"No, I couldn't find an off button so I went to the next option. I wasn't really sure how solar power worked or else I might have just locked her in the closet. I didn't get too far though. My parents were on to me pretty quickly when I walked by them in my pajamas and went out to the garage. They followed me just long enough to try to see what I was doing and took it away before any damage could be done." Tears were streaming down my face I was laughing so hard.

Alice chose that moment to rejoin us and rolled her eyes. "So I have a lot of energy, I don't understand why everyone makes such a big deal about it."

"Well no one would probably make a big deal out of it if you would just keep your energy to yourself. You are the one who insists on going to your friends houses at 5 in the morning to rearrange their closets or make them breakfast just because."

I had to sit down because my sides were hurting from laughing. I could barely catch my breath. They had to almost carry me to the bus and every time I looked at them I started laughing again.

"That's enough Bella. Either you stop or I start asking Renee for stories from your childhood. I'm sure there has to be some gems," Alice leaned over like she was about to tap Renee on the shoulder and I immediately stopped.

"I'd keep an eye on her. She's a sneaky one and I speak from years of experience," he saw Alice now glaring in his direction and immediately shut up.

We were headed back to Athens now and so we had a much longer bus trip ahead of us. I shared Edward's earbuds and we listened to music. We played cards with Alice and I tried to read some magazines. Edward did his best to distract me whenever I attempted this. He would rub my leg or kiss my neck and whisper into my ear whenever I started so I decided to talk to him the majority of the time. Talking didn't turn into much else since we were on a bus with quite a few other people.

"Tonight we are going to dinner. Just me and you," he looked into my eyes and used his fingers to move my hair out of my face.

"That sounds wonderful," he kissed my hand and we went back to playing cards with Alice. Finally the bus pulled back into Athens and we all got into our respective cabs to head back to our hotel.

"Bella, I just want you to know that I won't be lonely if you want to get away with Edward while we are here. I have plenty to keep me occupied and I want you to enjoy the time you have with him," I never gave my mom as much credit as she deserved.

"Thanks mom, I really am not trying to abandon you," I squeezed her hand.

"Bella enjoy yourself. You are only young once and I remember what it was like to feel that way. Why do you think I married your father? Everyone needs to experience that no matter how it ends up," she patted my leg and got out of the cab as we pulled into the hotel. The bellhop helped unload our luggage and I saw Edward waiting for us in the lobby. Renee followed my glance and pushed me on my way. "Go have fun sweetheart. Don't worry about me." I gave her a quick hug and ran to Edward's waiting arms.

"What would you like to do tonight?" Did he really think that I cared? As long as I was with him I would be happy.

"I'm up for anything," he smiled in response.

"Anything? Really now," I felt my face warming up and he smiled at me. "No really do you mind if I planned a surprise?"

I couldn't deny him anything when he looked at me and blinked those long lashes. I forgot all rational thought.

"No, I don't mind at all," I hope that it made sense when I said it because in my mind it sounded like mush.

"Okay then you go upstairs and rest and meet me back down here in 2 hours," he leaned down and kissed me quickly on the lips. He walked over to the elevators and pressed the button while I waited for my mom. I watched him until the elevators carried him away. I didn't even notice that my mom had walked up.

"Looks like someone has a hot date tonight," I almost jumped when she started talking.

"Mom you can't just sneak up on me," but I couldn't be mad at her. I couldn't be mad at anyone in the mood I was in. I walked with my mom to the elevator and we headed up to our room. There was no way that I would be able to sleep so I took a shower and went through my luggage to try and figure out what to wear. I had no idea what we were doing and I didn't know if I needed to dress up or if casual would be okay. Well seeing as how I hadn't brought any dress up clothes since I only planned on taking a bus through Greece I quickly decided a light blue sundress. I tried to take my time getting ready but it is rather hard when you have no make-up and your hair only requires a quick run thru with a brush.

I looked at the clock and realized that I still had 20 minutes until I was supposed to meet him so I decided to kill time by reading the hotel magazine. Even though it seemed like time was going backwards finally the time had arrived and I made my way downstairs. I pushed the button for the elevator and then ran back to my room to grab a light sweater just in case we spent a lot of time outside. My mom gave me a thumbs up and I ran out the door.

I tried my best to not rub my sweaty palms on my dress as the elevator made its way down to the lobby. I don't know why I was nervous I had spent every waking hour with him but for some reason this felt different. The elevator dinged and I walked out and scanned the lobby for him. My heart was beating wildly in my chest as I walked out on the plush carpet. I began to panic when I couldn't find him but then we noticed each other at the same time. He had on tight fitting black jeans and a black t shirt that molded to his body. I couldn't pull my eyes away from him.

A smile lit up his face and he made his way to me. He was holding a small bouquet of wild flowers and he handed them to me while he placed a kiss on my cheek.

"You look amazing," he held my hand above my head and told me to spin in a circle so that he could get the entire effect of my dress. I felt a little foolish but I complied and his words of appreciation made the whole thing much easier too. When I completed my rotation he kissed me on the tip of the nose and pulled me over to the couch to sit down.

"I know that this might seem odd but I ordered dinner to be sent up to my room. Please feel free to say no. I'm not doing this to pressure you or anything it is just that we have so little time together left that I don't want to share you with anyone," he raised my hand to his lips and kissed each finger one at a time. I forced myself to focus on something other than the sensations rushing through my body and answer his question. Was I ready to be alone in a room with him? As I looked at his face I thought I knew the answer.

_More coming soon. Thank you everyone for reading._

_Jaime_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N Okay hope I didn't make you wait too long._

_Tiggrmommi thank you and I do not own!_

"That sounds wonderful Edward," he stood up and then helped me up from the seat. He placed a hand on the small of my back and guided me to the elevators.

We said nothing as we got inside and he pressed the button for his floor. His hand rubbed small circles on my back and I leaned against him. I closed my eyes and just savored the scent of him in the air and the feel of him against me. I never wanted to forget any detail of this trip and especially him. When the telltale ding sounded I opened up my eyes and followed him down the hall to his room. He opened up the door for me and led me over to the couch. He took my sweater from my hands and hung it up by the door. He placed the flowers on the table by the couch. Looking around his room seemed identical to mine. I could see the bedroom door opened and I was surprised to see only a single king sized bed.

"Do you and Alice share a bed?" The words were out before I could think about it.

"No," he laughed. "Alice snores horribly and so unless it is absolutely necessary my parents usually get us our own rooms when we travel." Oh, so we were alone without any interruptions. I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or more nervous.

He pulled a silver lid off a plate had been sitting on the table in front of me. I hadn't even noticed it but there were assorted cheeses and fruits contained on it. He picked up a rather large strawberry and held it to my lips. I took a bite and felt some of the juice escape down the side of my mouth. He put the strawberry down and leaned forward and licked the juice away from my face. I had stopped breathing and closed my eyes the second he had placed his tongue against my face and forced them open when he stopped. His face was hovering over mine and when my eyes met his he began to kiss me.

We had kissed often throughout the past few days but never like this. He pressed his body against me while his tongue traced every inch of my mouth. I put my hands in his hair wanting him closer to me, needing to feel him against me. I fell back into the couch and he was on top of me instantly. My hands moved along his back trying to pull his body against me. I felt him shift us to our sides and although the pressure of his body disappeared it did give him better access to me. His hand roamed up and down lingering at my breast before moving down my leg. When he reached my thigh he pulled my leg so that was hitched over his thigh. I began to move my body against his, needing the friction. I was moving strictly on instinct as I had never been in this kind of situation before.

He appeared to be enjoying it though so I just let myself go. I moved my hands so that I could explore him the same way he was exploring me. When I caressed his backside he moaned into my mouth and then pulled away from me. I was shocked and wondered if I had done something wrong. Immediately I hid my face in his chest and closed my eyes.

"Bella, look at me please," I ignored him and so he used his hands to cup my face and pull it away from his chest. His breathing was ragged and I could feel his accelerated heart beat against my chest. "Bella please open your eyes." Reluctantly I complied and was shocked to notice that his green eyes were darker, his hair was standing up all over the place and he looked about as flustered as I did. "Bella, oh Bella," he placed small kisses on my forehead, my nose, my eyes. "I'm sorry things were getting quickly out of hand there. I promised you that I was only bringing you up here for dinner and then I attacked you. I can't seem to control myself where you are concerned though. Are you ready for dinner? I would understand if you were upset and wanted to leave though," his eyes looked down and it was time for me to comfort him now.

"Edward," I placed my hands in similar locations as his and pulled his head close to mine. "Did you hear me complaining? I have never felt this way in my entire life but I want more. I'm not going anywhere and I really am not hungry for food," I'm not sure where this confidence came from but the last thing I wanted right now was for him to stop. I moved my lips back to his and kissed him with all the passion and desire that I was feeling. He groaned into my mouth and his body began moving against mine again. It was obvious where this was leading and it was do or die time. I had a decision to make and time was running out. I pulled away from him and he moaned in protest.

"Edward," he was trying to get me to kiss him again and I had to push him away. "Edward," he looked frustrated as he looked up at me. "Perhaps we should move to the bedroom, there is more room in there," he was off the couch and lifting me up in no time at all. He placed me gently on the bed and stood over me. His eyes took in every inch of my body followed by his hands.

"May I," he asked as his hands reached the zipper on the side of my dress. I nodded trying to appear calm and cool even though I felt anything but. He unzipped it slowly and kissed the skin as it was exposed. When I was capable again I stood up and pulled the dress over my head. He took a harsh breath in as he watched me. I stood there in front of him in only my bra and panties and yet I didn't feel exposed. It all felt right to me. He came to me and the feel of his hands against my bare back made me moan. He looked at me questioningly before removing my bra. I just nodded and soon that fell to the ground with my dress. As his hands rubbed and caressed me I began to feel severely overdressed. I reached for his t-shirt and he pulled away from me long enough to help me pull it over his head. He moved closer to me again and our bare chests rubbed together. My nipples hardened at the contact and he pulled away and moved his lips from my mouth down my neck to my chest. When his tongue made contact I jumped at the sensation. He moved his hands to my butt and pulled me closer to him while his tongue explored. I was writhing against him losing myself to the sensation of it all.

"I don't think I can stand much longer," it came out strangled and garbled but he understood. Without removing his mouth he wrapped his arms around me and laid me down on the bed.

"Much better," he stood over me once again but it wasn't long this time. He used his tongue and explored my body. Licking down one side and up the other. I was a mess, my entire body felt like it was on fire and then I could feel the heat of his breath against my panties. Sensations that I had never felt before rushed though me. He let out one deep breath against me and the heat of it made my hips buck up into him. He placed a gentle kiss on top of my panties and moved back up until he found my lips again. He stood up and I could feel the cool air against my skin. I opened my eyes to see what had happened.

He was removing his shoes and when his fingers moved to the button on his pants I stopped him.

"Let me," I whispered. I slowly unbuttoned the jeans and then moved the zipper down. Moving my hands inside the pants I pushed them down his legs being sure to leave his boxers on. Just looking at him standing there in only his underwear all I could think of was perfection. His abs were defined and his stomach ended in a v at the waistband of his boxers. He kicked them off at his feet and we stood there standing there facing each other in our underwear. I knew I had to be honest with him if we were going to go any further.

"Edward I've never," he stopped me by placing a finger over my lips.

"I've never either. I've fooled around before but I've never actually had sex. If you don't want to I understand," it seemed like a rather foolish thing to say as we were both standing there in only our underwear and it was obvious even to someone as inexperienced as me that he was extremely turned on.

"I've never wanted anything more in my life," those words barely left my mouth and we were back on the bed. Our bodies were grinding against each other as we kissed each other frantically. "Do you have any protection?" I managed to get out at some point when we took a break for air. I cursed myself for not taking my mother up on her offer. Actually there is no way I would have asked her even if I had known this was going to happen. I could only imagine the questions that I would have gotten.

"Yes," he got out of the bed and fumbled in his pants and pulled something out of his wallet. He hesitated before he got back into bed with the waistband of his boxers. I sat up and moved to the edge of the bed helping him to move them off his body. I tried to not look too hard at his massive erection that was now at eye level. I didn't want to think about how that would fit into me. He pulled me off the bed and pulled the covers back. We began kissing each other again and his hands moved to the elastic band of my panties. I moved my hand on top of his and started pulling down to let him know that it was okay. We stood there in front of each other naked. The light in the room was rapidly fading but there was enough to see the outline of his body against mine. We began to kiss again and I could feel the hardness of his erection pressed into my stomach. Without thinking I reached between us and wrapped my fingers around him. He groaned and placed his hand over mine.

"You might want to stop. I don't think I can handle that right now," he entwined my fingers through his and moved us backwards until my knees were at the bed. I sat down and then moved under the covers. He was under them with me in less than a second. We faced each other sideways again and after a moment's hesitation our hands were all over each other again. Our kisses grew deeper as our bodies rubbed back and forth against each other. He moved my leg over his thigh again and his fingers moved down my body until they reached where my legs joined. He waited a moment to see if I would stop him before he began exploring me with his fingers. I stopped kissing him because I could no longer breathe. His fingers moved back and forth against my folds. I could feel him using my moisture to make it easier for him to move. When his fingers found my clit I moaned his name and immediately tried to close my legs.

"Let me make you feel good Bella. Please don't stop me," he began kissing me again while his fingers began moving again. His fingers moved faster and faster and I dropped my head against his neck unable to focus on anything other than the fire building within me. I was panting and moving myself against his fingers. I moaned his name over and over again begging for something that only he could give me.

Suddenly my muscles clenched and I could feel nothing but the intense pleasure flowing through me. It was a sensation unlike anything I had ever felt before. I couldn't even focus enough to moan his name. He smiled at me as stopped moving his fingers. He began kissing me again and I just laid there savoring the sensation that was slowly leaving my body.

"That was," I couldn't even think of a word to properly describe what I had just felt.

"It was amazing to watch," he reached for the little foil package that he had put on the table next to the bed. "Do you think that you are ready?" It was obvious that he was but he wasn't pressuring me at all.

"Yes," I pushed him back and began kissing his chest, his neck, his arms before moving down to his stomach. I looked at his erection that was throbbing slightly in front of me. I kissed the tip gently and he gasped and pulled me back up his body. "Yes, I'm ready."

He ripped the package open and pushed the condom down around him. I laid down on my back and held out my arms to him. He positioned himself over me and I could feel his tip pressed against me. Very slowly he began to push his way inside me. A burning sensation followed behind him as moved deeper within me. I tried to focus on something else so I looked up at him. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were closed.

"Oh Bella, oh god Bella," he moaned this repeatedly as he began to move back and forth. The burning sensation lessened slightly as he continued to move within me. I wouldn't call it pleasurable but it was slightly less than painful. I watched his face to focus on something other than the discomfort.

"Oooo….oooo…ooo," he couldn't even form words anymore as his pace quickened. He stopped moving and I could see his body clench for a moment before he collapsed on top of me. "Thank you, thank you," he whispered over and over again as he kissed me. "That was the most amazing thing I have ever felt."

I smiled up at him and watched as he pulled out of me. The sense of relief was immediate but I didn't say anything to damper his enjoyment. I saw him pull off the condom and put it in the trash bag by the bed.

"I'm sorry, I could tell it was painful for you," he rubbed my face gently.

"It was fine. I don't think that it feels good for any woman the first time," he looked perplexed and then smiled at me.

"I promise that next time it will be better," so he was already planning a next time. "For now let's get up and eat something. I did promise you dinner after all." He walked around the room and pulled his boxers back on before going to the closet and pulling out a robe for me. He helped me out of bed and placed it on my shoulders.

"I'm going to call room service and tell them to send up our order," he kissed my shoulder and moved to the other room. I went into the bathroom and washed up. I was a little sore but it wasn't anything too extreme. I found him standing on the balcony with just his jeans on. I came and wrapped my arms around him and he leaned back against me.

"The food will be here in just a little while."

I looked out over the view that I hadn't even bothered to notice earlier.

"Are you okay? I didn't want to hurt you," he turned to face me and the concern was evident in his eyes.

"I've never been better. I can honestly say that I have never been happier than I am right now," he looked like he wasn't sure whether or not to believe me before he just nodded and wrapped his arms around me.

We stood there like that, neither of us saying a word until our food arrived.

_Thank you again to everyone reading this! Hope you enjoyed._

_Jaime_


	9. Special Note

_Sorry not an update yet but just a little notice that I am participating in the Support Stacie fanfic auction. There a lot of other fabulous writers participating also so please check it out. It ends on Sundy!_

_Here is the link_

_www dot majiksfanfic dot ?f=115_

_Thank you and I promise that I will be updating soon!_

_Jaime_


	10. Memories

_A/N – Sorry for the delay! Here you go!_

_Thanks as always to Tiggrmommi and I don't own._

We both jumped when a knock on the door brought us back to reality. We had been lost in the moment on the balcony and I suddenly realized that I was famished. The server rolled in a cart piled with trays and set them on the table. He took out two candles from somewhere on the cart and lit them. Edward came from behind me and pulled the chair out for me. He pushed my chair in and placed a kiss on my neck before he began removing lids off the plates that had been placed on the table. There was chicken, fish, steak, salad, bread, fruit and it just went on and on. I'm not sure how much he thought I was capable of eating but it was obvious that he wasn't quite sure what I would like so he ordered everything. I placed a little of this and a little of that on my plate and began to eat.

I wasn't sure what we should talk about now. Mundane things like the weather and our plans for tomorrow seemed pointless but then what was left?

"What would you like to do tomorrow?" We had both been silent for a few minutes as we ate and he decided to make the first move.

"I haven't really thought about it. I want to check with my mom to see if she had anything she wanted to do," I was feeling a little bad about completely deserting her during this trip.

"Actually my mother and Renee have made plans for the day. My father is going golfing with some friends in the area so she was going to be all alone. So we have the day all to ourselves so I'm at your disposal my lady," he smiled at me and then took a large bite of his asparagus.

"I have no idea. You are the one who has been here before so we don't you surprise me?" He got a serious look on his face and got up from his seat and came over to me.

"I rather like how this surprise turned out today," he pulled my chair out and lifted me to him. "I hope you've had enough to eat." I'm not sure what sort of answer I gave in my dazed state but apparently it was the right one because he lifted me up and carried me to the room. He placed me back down in the middle of the bed and untied my robe. It fell away from my body leaving me exposed to him.

"You are beautiful," he crossed the room and turned off the overhead light leaving only the lamp shining on the bed next to us. He removed his clothes before joining me on the bed. He began exploring me with his mouth. He started at my feet and moved up to my lips. My entire body was trembling by the time his lips met mine. "We won't do anything you don't want to do Bella. Just tell me to stop and I will."

"Don't stop, please don't stop," and there was no more conversation after that. He used his tongue in ways that I had never imagined and left me in a state of bliss that I had never even thought was possible. I heard the ripping of the foil package as he shifted away from me. He came back and kissed me again before looking to me before he continued. I moved my hips closer to his wanting to feel him in me again.

This time when he moved inside me there was hardly any pain and I moved with him instead of just staying still. I wouldn't say that if felt amazing but it was much better than the last time. We spent the rest of the night in and out of bed. We ate a little bit more and eventually at about 3 in the morning we fell asleep in each other's arms. I woke with a start at 6 in the morning and tried to get out of bed but his arms tightened around me.

"Edward, I have to get back to my room before my mom wakes up," he let me go and I ran around the room searching for my clothes. He followed me out of the room and helped me to get dressed.

"Do you want me to walk you back to your room," he started looking around for his clothes but I stopped him.

"No, get some rest. I'm going to try to get some sleep. I'll call you later on," I kissed him on the cheek and walked to the door. He stopped me before I reached the door.

"I'll be thinking of you," he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me goodbye.

I left his room and made my way back to my own. Renee was still snoring softly so I changed into a t-shirt and crawled into bed. It seemed like only minutes later that the light came on and Renee began moving around the room. I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

"Bella honey how was your date? I tried to wait up for you but I have a big day planned with Esme so I gave up," she pulled my pillow off my head and I was forced to actually talk to her.

"It went great mom. I had a very nice time," I pulled my pillow back from her and covered my head again.

"So you are actually admitting it was a date now are you?" Leave it to my mom to focus in on that.

"Yes mom I admit it. I had a great time but now I must sleep," I burrowed into my pillow and finally went back to sleep. When my eyes opened again it was quiet in the room. I looked at the clock and realized it was already 10 o'clock. I rushed into the shower and got ready for the day before calling Edward.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up," he chuckled into the phone.

"Sorry apparently I was really tired," I tried to stifle a yawn.

"I can't imagine why?" We both laughed and he said he would be at my room in a few minutes.

Seconds later there was a knock on the door and he was standing there waiting for me.

"Well Sleeping Beauty I had a whole day planned for us but we missed it," I started to apologize but he stopped me with his lips.

"No, don't worry I made alternate plans," he grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door. He seemed excited so I just followed behind him and didn't ask any questions.

We walked away from the hotel and down the street to the water where a boat was docked offering tours of the island. Edward paid and we boarded the boat and waited for the others to board. Edward had his arm around me the entire time we were on the boat. He pointed out different landmarks for me as we went along. The warm sun beat down on us and I shed my sweater and we sat down on a bench and looked out over the water.

"So what would you like to do after this?" He smiled down at me and kissed the top of my head.

"Well I was thinking room service sounded nice."

Neither of us could get off that boat soon enough.

We spent the rest of the day in his room. I know that there were many beautiful things to see in this country that I would probably never visit again but I couldn't bring myself to regret anything. This was something I wasn't looking for and hadn't expected to find so I was going to enjoy it for the remaining 36 hours that I had. Every time I looked at a clock I panicked slightly knowing that with each tick of the second hand we were getting closer to our impending departure. Like I had said before I didn't want to think about what would happen after this trip was over. I had meant what I said about no regrets. I just wanted to enjoy this for what it was and then go back home. I was excited about college and the new adventures that awaited me there. I would never regret what had happened here and I could only hope that he felt the same way.

I returned to my room before my mom was scheduled to come back and we had dinner together that night. We discussed her day with Esme and how much fun she had had while she asked surprisingly little questions about Edward. I knew her well enough to know that that wasn't a good sign but she seemed to be satisfied with not pressing me any further about him.

We decided to go for a walk later on that night and I enjoyed just spending time with my mother. Although I wanted to spend every moment possible with Edward my relationship with my mother was changing too. I was going away to college and from this point on I would be independent. Although our relationship hadn't always been the typical mother/daughter relationship it was ours and I would miss it.

"Bella I know you have always seemed older than your years but I don't want to see you get hurt," she had stopped walking and I decided to just hear out what she had to say. I had hoped that we could avoid this conversation but I should have known better.

"Mom, I'm fine," I looked her in the eyes. "I know you probably think that I am being impulsive right now but I wouldn't do anything stupid I promise. Please just trust me," apparently she saw something in my eyes that made her feel better because she started walking again.

We got back to the hotel and we found Edward sitting in the lobby waiting for us.

"Renee it is nice to see you again," he held out his hand to her and she blushed as his fingers wrapped around her hand. "Would you mind terribly if I borrowed Bella?"

"Not at all I was just heading to bed. You two have a good time," she gave me a hug and wished us goodnight and just like that we were alone again. "I won't be waiting up," she whispered in my ear.

"I missed you," he pulled me to his side as we stood there. "Would you like to go somewhere? See something?"

"No not at all," and just like that we were back in his room again. The majority of my vacation had been spent here lately. As we lay side by side in bed he asked me the question that I had been dreading.

"Bella what happens now? How do we keep this going once we go back?" He turned on his side to look at me and his fingers traced my cheekbone.

"We don't," he started to protest. He was shaking his head back and forth vigorously. "Edward listen to me. This is what we both agreed to from the beginning. We are both starting college in a few weeks. Now isn't the time to try to attempt a long distance relationship," he was still shaking his head. "Really Edward? What are we going to do? Promise to visit each other on the weekends? Try to make this work? It isn't feasible Edward that is why we both promised that there would be no strings attached. It isn't fair to expect either of us to make this work."

"Why can't we try Bella? We don't even know where we are going to be going to college we could be closer than you think," I cut him off again.

"Is that fair though to give either of us hope? We could be across the country from each other. I want to just enjoy this Edward. I want to appreciate every second that we have together. Can you please just try to do that?"

And even though I could tell that he wanted to argue with me and that he didn't agree with what I had just said he nodded.

"I'm doing this for you Bella. I don't agree but I will go along with it not because I want to but because I want to be with you and for now that is enough."

He kissed me with all the passion and longing he had inside and even some of the anger he felt right now. He grabbed a condom off the night table and rolled it on. He rolled me until I was facing away from him. He placed his head against mine and lifted my leg onto his. He shifted me so that he could push inside me and I pushed against him to force him deeper into me. He moved his hand until he was caressing my breast and kissed along my head and back.

We moved together frantic and needy. We both knew that time was running out and so every stroke and every thrust with filled with longing. I wanted to sear this into my memory so that I would never forget. I never wanted to forget the way that his hands felt on me or the way he felt as he moved inside me. Soon my memories would be all that I had and they would just have to be enough.

With his arms wrapped around me I drifted off to sleep.

_Thanks for reading and just a reminder that I have two auctions on the Support Stacie Twilight auction! Please come and help to support a great cause. www dot majiksfanfic dot ?f=115_

_I will be back very soon!_

_Jaime_


	11. Goodbye

_Here we go! Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for taking the time to read my story!_

_Thank you to Tiggrmommi for being wonderful._

The next day was bittersweet. We spent the day together as one large group, walking through the town picking up last minute souvenirs and goodies before we had to pack up to fly home in the morning. I refused to think about the morning. I refused to think about the time when he was no longer around. As we strolled with the family we walked hand in hand. Even when we ate we had our hands in contact with some portion of the each other's body. Every time one of our parents looked our way they would get a large smile on their face. I know that they were thinking about our future and I didn't have the nerve to set them straight.

Alice looked sad as the day wore on and I dragged myself away from Edward long enough to talk to her.

"You're really going to go through with this aren't you?" I knew what she meant so I just nodded.

"Bella you don't understand though. You don't know…," I cut her off.

"Alice I know it may not seem like it but we know what we are doing. Everything will be okay," and with a confidence I didn't have I assured her that we would be okay and then walked back to Edward. He was sitting on a bench and when he saw me approaching he stood up and gathered me in his arms.

"I missed you," he nuzzled my hair with his nose and I forgot about what I had just talked about with Alice. We all started walking again and went through the last of the shops on the street. Edward excused himself for a bit as my mom and I explored a clothing store. When we all met up again we discussed options for dinner. I stifled a yawn as we talked and I decided to opt out of dinner so that I could pack. We had to be at the airport very early in the morning the next day and I was nowhere near ready.

"I haven't even started to pack yet either," Alice got frantic and we all decided to head to our rooms and just order room service.

"Will you come up to my room later?" Edward had pulled me off to the side as everyone began hugging each other and saying goodbye. Our flights left at different times but none of us would have the opportunity to say goodbye in the morning. "I know that you are tired but will you please come so we can say goodbye?"

"As soon as I am done packing I will be there," I gave him a quick kiss and we went back to our families to say our goodbyes. After three rounds of hugs my mother and I headed up to our room. We ordered room service and got to work. After about an hour we were almost done and I was checking the room to make sure that we hadn't left anything lying around. We had less than 12 hours here and with each minute that passed I was beginning to realize that I would have to tell Edward goodbye and I wasn't sure how to do that.

"I'll finish up in here you go ahead and go tell him goodbye. Just make sure that you make it back here in time," she gave me a quick hug pushed me out the door.

I made my way to his room and I began to get nervous. I wasn't sure how I was going to say goodbye. It still seemed like the right thing to do but I couldn't really remember why anymore. I had barely knocked before the door was open. Someone was obviously waiting for me. No sooner had I stepped in the door than he had his arms around me and he began kissing me. It was a hungry kiss with our tongues fighting each other with dominance. Our hands worked of their own volition to shed our clothes in a pile on the floor.

Our lips never broke contact as we made our way to the couch. He landed first and I straddled his lap. He leaned me against his chest while he rolled a condom on and then guided me over him. Very slowly I savored the feeling of him filling me. He placed his hands on my hips and helped to guide me up and down until finally I pushed them away so that I could be in control. I grabbed his face between my hands needed something to hold on to. I kissed him with all the hunger and passion he had unlocked in me. I began to move faster and could no longer concentrate on anything but the intense pleasure sweeping over me. I dropped my head to his shoulder and he moved his hands once again to my hips to help guide me. It was all too much suddenly and I felt my body clench around him. I screamed his name over and over again as his movements slowed down.

The room was quiet as I collapsed against him. Neither of us made the move to disentangle ourselves. We knew that we had limited time and I didn't want to be away from him any longer than absolutely necessary. I felt him slide out of me and so I pushed away from him so that we wouldn't make a mess. He went to the bathroom and when he came back he grabbed something off the table and came to my side. He pulled me back onto his lap.

"I got you something," he pushed a small box into my hand and tears filled my eyes.

"But I didn't get you anything," he pushed my hair aside and kissed my neck.

"You've already given me more than enough," he pointed to the box in my hands and waited for me to open it up. I lifted the lid off the box and looked inside to find a silver charm bracelet. There was only one charm on it a simple silver island silhouette.

"Just a little something to remind you of the time you spent here. I figured as you went more places you could add more on."

"Thank you, it's beautiful." I kissed him again and we quickly moved to the bedroom.

Neither one of us slept that night. We spend the evening exploring each other's bodies and never uttering the words goodbye. All too soon the light began to change outside and it was evident that the sun was beginning to come up. I didn't have much time until I had to head to the airport. I looked at Edward and he had obviously noticed the same thing.

We began to kiss again, our kisses saying what we weren't capable of. They were soft and delicate and had just a hint of sadness. When he entered me for the last time a single tear escaped my eye. We took our time and kissed and touched and just savored. When it was all done he stayed on top of me placing light kisses all over my face.

"I have to go," he shook his head as if just the mere fact of disagreeing with me would make the situation change.

"I can't let go," he wrapped his arms around me.

"I don't want to go either but we both have lives that exist out of Greece," I kissed his cheekbone, his nose before moving to his lips. "Thank you, thank you for everything. This has easily been the best week of my life." I kissed him again and pulled away before we got too carried away. I had minutes until I had to be in my room.

"I feel the same way," I could tell that there was more that he wanted to say but after a moment of hesitation he got up from bed and helped me find my clothes. He pulled on some pants while I got dressed and he walked me to the door.

"I'm going to walk you to your room," he was pulling on his shirt when I stopped him.

"No, please I would rather say goodbye here." I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a light kiss. "Goodbye Edward," I wanted to say more but I didn't want to let him see the tears that were threatening to escape

"Goodbye Bella, I'll never forget you," he wrapped his arms around me and with one last kiss I opened the door and walked down the hall to the elevator. I didn't look back at him as I waited for the elevator to arrive because I didn't think that I would be able to leave. As I got into the elevator as the doors were closing I allowed myself one last glance and watched as he stood there looking as heartbroken as I felt.

My mother was waiting for me and wrapped her arms around me as soon as I walked into the door. I began to cry as soon as I saw her. I knew that we were limited on time though so I pulled away quickly.

"Thanks mom," I went to the bathroom to wash my face. Our luggage had already been taken downstairs so we made our way to the lobby to get our shuttle that was waiting to take us to the airport. I don't remember anything about the ride to the airport or waiting for our plane to take off. All I remember is looking out the window as the plane took off over the beauty of Greece and wiping away the tears as I said goodbye to everything that happened here.

_More coming very soon, I promise._


	12. Starting Again

_Well I thought that since I had written the entire story that I could be speedy and update quickly but I am rewriting the ending so bear with me. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this and to Tiggrmommi for dealing with the rewrites._

_I do not own._

I said goodbye to my mother at the airport. She was catching a flight to Florida later on that day and I waited with her for a little while before heading downstairs to claim my luggage. She gave me one last hug and a kiss before assuring me that everything would be okay. I promised to call her one last time before hugging her yet again and heading to the baggage claim area. As I took the escalator down to luggage claim I was surprised to see Charlie waiting for me.

"Bells," he ran to me and surprised me by giving me a big hug. "I've missed you. Did you have a good time? Was it nice there?" He asked many more questions that I didn't hear but responded to. I just went on and on about how nice Greece was and Charlie was pacified as he loaded my luggage onto a cart and wheeled it to the car. As we drove into town I tried to not notice how different Forks was from where we had just been. It was green and cool here when I was used to warmth and brightness. I didn't mind too much as it fit the mood that I was in at the moment.

Before too long we were back home and I excused myself to my room, telling Charlie that I was exhausted after my trip. I took my luggage upstairs and placed it in the corner of my room, not ready to deal with anything that might remind me of those magical days. Opening it up and putting everything away would be the final closure on those days and I wasn't ready to say goodbye quite yet. I took my jacket off and went to my bed. The tears fell unbidden from my eyes onto my pillow and as I raised my hand to wipe them away my bracelet caught my eye causing the tears to fall even harder. What had I been thinking, why had I been so stupid? It had seemed like the right idea at the time, no ties, no worries, just living in the moment. But now as I lay here on my bed I realized that just because I had said the words didn't mean that I wouldn't think of him every second of every day. His hold on me transcended Greece and I was a fool to ever think that I wouldn't regret not trying to find a way to make this work.

Eventually I cried myself to sleep and woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking downstairs. I made my way down and realized that I was famished. I had never been more grateful for the fact that my father was a man of few words than I was at that moment. He took one look at my face which I knew from my detour to the bathroom was red and puffy still and just placed a plate in front of me. He sat down next to me and just squeezed my hand before he started eating. We ate in silence but it wasn't uncomfortable and I took the dishes to the sink after we were both done. I didn't know what his plans were for the day but I selfishly hoped that he had somewhere else to be so that I could wallow in my despair for a few more hours. As he grabbed his jacket off the chair I knew that my prayers had been answered.

"I'm going to watch the game with some of the guys from work. I thought you might need some time to rest still," he looked tentative and I knew that if I said the word he would stay here with me but I needed silence.

"Have a great time Dad. I'll have dinner waiting," he smiled and made his way to his car and once again I was all alone. I puttered around the house for a while and it was obvious that it hadn't really been cleaned while I was gone so that occupied a few hours of my time. It helped to keep my mind from wandering and I was grateful for the relief. When the house was clean I decided that a need for groceries were in order so I headed to the store. When everything else I could think of doing in order to waste time was done I went to my room and stared at the luggage sitting in the corner of the room. Today still wasn't the day so I decided to focus on getting ready for college. It would be here before I knew it and I hoped that when I got there I could throw myself into school and not dwell on what had happened in Greece.

I kept myself busy the next few weeks with packing up for school and sending things to the dorms ahead of me. I was rooming alone because I was anxious about living with a stranger and now I was wishing that I had almost had someone in the room with me so I wouldn't have to be alone anymore. I got together with friends to say goodbye and I tried to spend as much time with Charlie as possible. I was desperate to keep every single minute filled with activity so that I could fall into bed at night exhausted and not have to dream about my time in Greece.

Charlie realized that I was quieter and sadder than before I had left for Greece but he seemed to assume that it was because I was leaving soon. Thankfully Charlie respected my privacy and didn't press me or ask me questions that I wasn't quite able to answer. My mother had no such boundaries and would question me relentlessly about what I had been doing in order to find Edward and was always disappointed when my answer was always the same…_nothing. _I tried talking to her as little as possible because dealing with my own thoughts and desires was more than enough. I didn't need to hear about hers as well.

Before too long my last night at home was upon us. My father and I ordered a pizza and sat down together to watch the Mariners game.

"I'm going to miss you Bells. If you ever need anything you can call me at anytime you know that right?"

"I know that Dad. Thanks, I'm going to miss you too," we sat there staring at each other awkwardly. I still had packing to do upstairs but I was reluctant to head up there. I was dreading saying goodbye yet again. I had said goodbye to far too many important people in my life lately. We watched the end of the game in silence and we washed the dishes together afterwards. I leaned my head against his shoulder as we finished up and he wrapped his arm around my back. We walked that way upstairs and when we reached my door he gave me a big hug.

"I love you sweetie," I whispered the words back and he waited until I was in my room before he headed to his own. I had one last suitcase to pack and it was the one thing I had been dreading since I had returned. Knowing that I had no other choice I lifted the large suitcase onto my bed and slowly opened it up. Everything was just how I had left it when I packed that last night in Greece. My eyes watered and I couldn't bear to take anything out, to part with the memories so I put the few things left on top and quickly closed it back up again. Perhaps at some point in the next few months I would be ready to deal with it but at the moment it was still too fresh. I put my suitcase next to the door and got ready for bed.

I fell into a restless sleep. Sleep hadn't been restful since I had returned from Greece. Every time I closed my eyes I could only think of him. I didn't allow myself to think of him any more than necessary, if only it were that easy. It wasn't something that I was able to control. The green of the trees reminded me of his eyes; the smell in the air after it rained reminded me of him. Everywhere I was, everything I saw somehow made me think of him. I hadn't even looked at my pictures from the trip because I knew that on our last day my mother had used my camera to take a picture of us together and I wasn't quite ready to look at that.

I had finally fallen asleep when my alarm went off. I gathered up my luggage and headed downstairs to where Charlie was waiting for me. Without a word we got into the car and headed out to the airport. He started to head to the parking lot but I stopped him.

"Go ahead and just drop me off Dad. You don't need to be sitting around an airport all morning."

"I would be sitting with you though Bella and that is where I want to be right now."

"Thanks Dad but I can't stand a long drawn out goodbye." He looked at me before finally moving to the drop off zone.

"If that's what you want honey." He pulled up against the curb and helped me get my luggage out. We gave each other a quick hug and said one last goodbye. I watched as he drove away before heading inside to check in.

I read a book but retained nothing as I waited for my plane to board. When finally I was seated on the plane I realized that I was heading to college. I waited for excitement to kick in but all I felt was nothing.

Before my trip to Greece when I thought about going away to college I was anxious. I was anxious to start this new chapter of my life and to get away from Forks. Now though when I thought about college I was ambivalent. I couldn't stop thinking of him and I hoped that college would keep me occupied enough so that I wouldn't think of him every free second that I had like I had been lately.

As the plane took off I thought about the last time I flew out of Seattle and how worried I had been about the trip my mother had planned. I had been so wrong and I now I wished that I was going back there, back to him, wherever he might be. When the plane landed I got a cart for my luggage and then looked around for the ride that I had arranged to have waiting for me.

The next few days kept me too busy to dwell on anything other than college and for that I was grateful. I got settled into my dorm and walked around to learn the campus before classes started. I waited in what seemed to be line after line. Books, food, orientation, there was always somewhere to be. I was overwhelmed by how large the campus was and how many people there was everywhere. I could walk to the same place every single day and never see the same person twice. Every night I went to bed exhausted and didn't even dream.

Before long the first day of school was here and I went to my Chemistry class looking forward to meeting some new people. I had met quite a few people in the dorms and everyone had been very friendly. I had even gone to a few meals with a group of people and was very slowly beginning to open up and try to make an effort to make some friends.

I sat down at the lab table and took out my book and a notebook while I waited for class to begin. I alternated between hoping that someone would sit down next to me and hoping that I had the desk to myself. It didn't take long before the seat was occupied though. I saw the shadow before I saw the person and I was a bit taken aback at the imposing person sitting next to me. That was the only way I could think of to describe him. He had to be at least 6'6" and his skin was a dark russet color. His long thick black hair was pulled back with a rubber band. He looked at me and smiled and he looked like a little boy trapped in a man's body.

"I'm Jacob," he held out his hand and I couldn't help but smile when I shook it.

"Bella. It's nice to meet you," just then the Professor walked in and we didn't have a chance to talk anymore.

We walked out of the room together and he stopped me as I went to head to my next class. "Do you have any plans tonight Bella? I was thinking we could grab a bite to eat," he looked at me and I didn't have the nerve to take the look of happiness off of his face.

"Sure that would be nice," we agreed to meet at the quad later on and I spent the rest of the day in class and didn't even think about. When I got back to the dorm I wondered why I was even doing this. I was in no place to lead anyone on but this was just a dinner not the beginning of a relationship. Besides I didn't have his number or any way of getting a hold of him in order to cancel and I didn't want to be rude.

I pulled on some jeans and made my way over to meet him. His face lit up when he caught site of me and I realized that I would have to make it clear from the beginning that I only wanted to be friends.

"I'm so glad that you could make it Bella. Thanks." He grabbed my hand and led me to the Student Union where we could get some food. As we sat at the table the silence started to become uncomfortable.

"So Jacob how do you like it here so far?"

"Well I really like it. My roommate is a little annoying, always playing sad music and locking himself in his room. Other than that I'm having a good time though. Better now that I have met you," he smiled at me and I realized that I couldn't lead him on.

"Thanks Jacob. It's nice to have a friend here," he looked at me as if I had just challenged him. "I just got out of a relationship before I got here Jacob and I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"Hey who said I was looking for a relationship? I just asked you dinner Bella. Don't jump the gun now Bella. Wow, someone is a little full of herself," he started laughing and couldn't help but join in.

We spent the rest of the meal talking and laughing. I felt comfortable with him and for the first time since I had gotten back from Greece I didn't think of Edward for a small window of time. It was a small step but at least it was a step. I went to bed that night and didn't dream of anything for the first time in a long time.

_A/N – Rewriting the next chapter too so hope to have it up in about a week and a half. Thanks again for taking the time to read this!!_

_Jaime_


	13. Acceptance

_Yes I know that I am rather late with this so here you go._

_Thanks to everyone for reading and Tiggrmommi for her help. _

_I do not own._

Over the next few weeks I hung out with Jacob more and more. He made me laugh like no one else ever had. He was always so happy it was contagious. The only thing he ever complained about was his roommate who refused to do anything other than lock himself in his room. Jacob had invited him to go out with our group many times but he had always refused. I had yet to meet this roommate but it seemed like it was better off that way anyways.

I still felt that Jacob wanted more than friendship but he didn't push it and I didn't bring it up. It didn't make our relationship awkward and he just always seemed to be there with me. We did homework together, ate together and talked all the time. I knew that I was depending on him way too much but it was nice to have a distraction and I was confident that I had made it clear from the beginning that I was not looking for anything more than a friendship. Edward wasn't constantly on my mind anymore and I began to feel more alive as each day passed. I didn't want to think that there might be a day in which I didn't think of him at all anymore. That was not something that I was willing to entertain.

I actually even started doing things with some of the other girls in the dorm. Slowly but surely I started to have a life at college. I had never been that outgoing so it was nice to find people who I could still be myself with but have a good time. Jacob helped greatly in that regard. He was so personable that people were naturally drawn to him and he had a way of making everyone in our group feel at ease. As the weeks went by we went out more and more in a group setting which helped alleviate some of my worries about his feelings for me.

One day Jacob noticed my bracelet and asked about it.

"Just a gift from an old friend," I looked at it and smiled. All the memories of Edward rushing back to me and making me miss his presence.

"An old friend or an old boyfriend?" I wasn't sure how to answer that. I fingered the charm as I thought of a proper response. How could I sum up everything that he was to me in a simple response?

"He was someone very special," Jacob looked at me closely, smiled and never mentioned it again. Apparently he too was unwilling to push beyond the confines of our friendship.

As time went on Jacob and I did more and more together. All my friends assumed that we were dating even though I steadfastly denied it. They just rolled their eyes and refused to let it go. They couldn't believe that I couldn't see how obviously interested in me he was and that he wasn't hard on the eyes either. I just continued to deny and know that what we had worked for us. I didn't look forward to the day when I could no longer avoid the subject of us dating and the strain it might place on our friendship. Lately I could tell that he was conflicted whenever we were together but I didn't press the subject. One day we would have to face it but I worried about what that might mean for us and so I cherished each day that we had together.

"Bella," we had been eating together one day after class and I had been laughing at something he had said when he got quiet and said my name. I looked down at my hands, not liking the tone that he used when he said my name. It was obvious that he had something on his mind and even more obvious that I wasn't going to be able to avoid it, whatever it was.

"Bella?" I looked into his eyes and saw the confusion that was there. I had my hands clenched together and he reached across the table and wrapped his large hands easily around mine. I looked down at them together, wanting it to look right, to feel right but everything about us as anything more than friends just felt wrong. I sat there, looking at our hands, unable to say anything, wanting him to talk and hoped that I was wrong about this conversation.

"Bella," he said for the third time. "I've tried to respect what you wanted. I've understood that there was someone else, someone very special, " his finger traced my bracelet and I stopped myself from pulling my arm away. He didn't have a right to touch that, his fingers didn't belong on the only piece of Edward that I still had physically with me. "I've waited for you, hoped that one day you might realize how I felt about you. Hoped that one day you would be able to feel the same way about me. Do you think you might be able to Bella?" His grip on my hands tightened slightly and I looked in to his eyes. They were so earnest, so hopeful that I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to break his heart but I also didn't want to lead him on.

"Jacob," I sighed as I said his name. I didn't want to date him but I also didn't want to lose him. What was I waiting for exactly though? Was I waiting for Edward to show up again miraculously? I had effectively taken care of that in Greece. I had already screwed up one relationship. Did I need to continue doing that with everyone that I met? I looked at my bracelet and wondered what I should do. "I don't know Jacob," I couldn't look in his eyes as I talked. I pulled my hands away and put them on my knees and squeezed, hoping that somehow that would help to distract me. "I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship. I can't lose you though, please understand that. I'm not promising anything, I can't but I need you Jacob. I can't promise more than friendship right now and I understand if you aren't willing to accept that," I looked down, trying to hide the tears that pooled in my eyes at the thought of losing him.

"Bella," he placed his hand under my chin and lifted my face until I looked at him. "I can wait. If friendship is all we ever have I can accept that. I do want more but I won't push you. Okay?" I nodded and he leaned over the table and kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes and waited for the rush of heat to my face, the tingle in my body like I had anytime Edward had even been near me but there was nothing. I raised my hand from my knee and squeezed his.

"Thank you for understanding." Just like that we went back to talking as if the conversation had never taken place. I allowed myself to feel confident and to hope that we could forget that this conversation ever took place.

We continued to go out together often. Everything between us was the same except that I noticed that Jacob found reasons to touch me a bit more than he used to. If we went to a movie together he would put his hand on top of mine on the armrest, push my hair out of my eyes and linger just a second longer than necessary. It was never enough to make me uncomfortable and he never pressed for anymore than this so I didn't say anything about it. My friends would just give me a knowing look and said nothing.

One night a bunch of us had made plans to go into town for a concert. A few of us were driving together so we swung by Jacob's dorm to pick him up. I had been there very few times, mainly just running in and out. He didn't like to be there any more than necessary so we avoided it whenever possible. He Tonight though he wasn't waiting on the stairs tonight like he normally would be so I ran out of the car in order to get him while Angela drove around to find a spot.

I ran up the stairs and snuck in the dorm as someone was leaving. I went to the elevator and made my way to room 719. I made a left as the doors opened and went down the hall to his room. As I knocked I dropped my purse on the ground and everything went spilling out onto the floor. I could hear the door open as I got down on my hands and knees to retrieve everything.

"Don't mind me," I laughed. "You ready to go?"

There was no answer from above so I figured it must be Jacob's roommate. I saw a pair of hands join in my pick up. They weren't Jacob's dark strong fingers that were grabbing my things but instead they were long, elegant pale fingers. Fingers that looked familiar but there was no way they belonged to who I thought they did. We grabbed for the same thing and our fingers touched as we both wrapped our hands around a tube of lipstick. I gasped as my fingers felt as though they had been shocked with a jolt of electricity. I held my breath as I looked up and nothing prepared me for who I saw sitting there next to me in the hallway.

_A/N – Dum dum dum….who could it be? Hehe_

_More will be coming sooner rather than later I hope._

_Thank you for reading._

_Jaime_


	14. Explanations

_I'm baack! After a weekend in Vegas I came home and wanted to write, write, write so here you go. I know that there are some of you who read the original gift exchange fic and I hope that you enjoy the changes that I have made. There will still be a few more chapters to go so thanks for sticking with me!_

_Thanks to Tiggrmommi for helping me keep my words straight and Pomme_de_terre for her input!_

_Thanks to everyone for reading, it means a lot to me. Enjoy!_

_I do not own…blah blah blah._

I took my hand away and they shook as I looked up at him. I could hardly believe that he was right there in front of me. I wanted to touch him again, to never let him go but I was afraid that if I touched him that he would disappear. We sat there staring at each other, neither of us making a move until Jacob came to the door and cleared his throat. We jumped apart from each other even though we had not even been touching or doing anything inappropriate.

"Bella, I see that you have finally met my wonderful roommate Edward," I looked up at Jacob in time to see him roll his eyes and nodded. I looked back at Edward and moved my hand so that my fingers grazed his, my bodies reaction was instantaneous as my heartbeat increased. Our eyes met and I jumped when Jacob put a hand on my back. He held his hand out to me and I sat there for a moment unsure of what to do.

"Bella, we better get going," he moved his hand back and forth until I grabbed it. Jacob grabbed me in a big hug. "I've missed you," he whispered into my hair and ran his hand along my cheek. He must have sensed something between Edward and me because he seemed to be marking his territory.

Edward looked at us, the pain evident in his eyes. Either way I went someone got hurt. Even though I wanted nothing more than to jump in Edward's arms and kiss him until I was forced apart from him Jacob standing right next to me it made the situation a bit more difficult.

"Edward, why don't you come with us," he was still sitting on the ground and he looked up. His eyes looked sad but there was a spark in them as he looked between the two of us.

"Bella he doesn't have a ticket, what if it is sold out," I knew that Jacob was talking, that he was saying something and yet none of his words sunk in. Edward and I were still staring at each other, neither of us saying a word. Ideally I should take Jacob aside, explain to him who Edward was but this wasn't the time and we had people waiting for us downstairs. It might not have been the best decision for anyone involved but my options were limited.

"I'll take that chance," Edward replied as he got up from the floor. "Just let me grab a jacket," I followed him with my eyes as he ran back into the dorm.

"What in the hell was that about," Jacob asked as soon as Edward went inside. Although given Jacob's feelings for Edward I am sure he would have made his distaste evident whether or not he was around. He wrapped his hand around my arm and held me in place as we stood there.

"Jacob you don't understand," I looked at the apartment door willing Edward to be quick.

"Don't understand what Bella? You have barely met this guy and you are looking at him like you can't live without him already," the pain in his voice was evident. I looked into his eyes and wished that I could do something to take that pain away but I knew that what I needed to tell him would only make things worse.

"Jacob," I took a deep breath as I tried to come up with the words to explain everything to him. The words that wouldn't hurt him, that would keep him in my life still. "I have to tell…"

"Okay, I'm ready to go," Edward chose that exact moment to come back out into the hallway. His jacket was on and he had a smile on his face. I had missed that smile, missed those eyes, dreamt about both of them at night when I was all alone.

"Could you just give us a minute please," he looked between the two of us as Jacob moved his hands from my arms to around my back. I tried to pull away but he only pulled me closer.

"Sure," Edward mumbled as he walked back in, the smile having disappeared from his face. I watched the door close and felt Jacob's breath as he leaned in closer to me. I knew what he was about to do but he was faster than I had anticipated. As his lips met mine I gently pushed him away. Hurting him would be unavoidable but I could only hope that I made it as clear as I possibly could.

"Jacob, you can't, we can't." I looked back at the door, hoping that Edward hadn't been looking out.

"Why? What is it about him? Let me tell you a thing or two about Edward Bella," he had pulled his arms away and was pacing in front of me. "You need someone happy Bella and that isn't him," he pointed his finger out at the door. "We could be happy together if you just gave us a chance. You need to forget about whomever it was that gave you this and move on with your life," he lifted up my arm and pointed to the charm bracelet hanging from my wrist.

"I can't forget him," I pulled my arm away. I hadn't wanted to fight with Jacob but he was leaving me no choice.

"If you meant so much to him Bella than why isn't he here now? I'm the one who walks you to class, who talks to you at night. I'm the one who is here for you. Obviously you aren't as special to him as he was to you," the words were cruel and unnecessary.

"I wouldn't let him be Jacob. He wanted to but I told him no. I told him that I only wanted this summer, nothing more," I hoped that he understood my reasons that seemed so valid at the time. I had a lot of explaining to do tonight.

"You seem to be good at that Bella. Not letting people get close to you, pushing them away," his tone was angry now and his eyes were hard as he looked down at me. "If he wanted you bad enough Bella he would have found a way. I've been here to pick up the pieces, I'm the one who makes you smile every day not some faded memory. It's time to face the facts Bella, you aren't going to see him again and it's time to move on." His face moved closer to mine, his eyes focused on my lips.

It was obvious that I had to end this now before he tried to kiss me again. "But I just did Jacob," his head pulled back as he looked at me in confusion. "Edward is the one from this summer, the one…" he cut me off with laughter.

"Seriously? That is my competition? Edward? The one who sits in his room all day listening to music, doing nothing? I had hoped that you had better taste than that Bella. This will be easier than I thought."

"Easier?" What in the world was he talking about?

"Now I know what I am up against Bella. It's no longer some memory that I have to compete with but actual flesh and blood. I can prove to you how much better I am for you," I was shaking my head. This wasn't some bizarre competition, I knew what I wanted.

"There is no competition Jacob. I never thought I would see him again," I looked back at the door.

"So that is why you led me on? Gave me false hope?" He was angry now but so was I.

"False hope? I never led you on Jacob," he laughed bitterly.

"What about our conversation a few weeks ago. I told you that I wanted more and you never said no."

"I never said yes either Jacob. I said I didn't know. I thought that Edward would never be back in my life."

"So you were going to settle for me because there were no better options available. Thanks Bella, just what every guy wants to hear." He turned his back on me and started heading down the hallway.

"I never wanted to hurt you Jacob," he turned and looked at me. The hatred was plain in his eyes.

"Well sorry to tell you that you failed," he started to walk back to the door and then stopped and looked down at me as he talked to me. "This is over," he pointed back and forth between the two of us. "I can't trust you anymore. You have broken one promise too many."

"Promises? What promises did I make Jacob? I never promised you anything. I never offered anything other than friendship, it's not my fault if you misunderstood." I felt bad that I had to do this to Jacob but he had no right to act like I had maliciously set out to hurt him.

"Every time you talked to me, every phone call you made to me was a promise for our future. Every time we went out, laughed together you promised me something more," he stared at me with fury in his eyes and I realized that at some point or another even without Edward this conversation would have taken place. He had never fully accepted that I didn't want something more from him.

"I'm sorry Jacob if you misunderstood our friendship. That isn't my fault though," I wanted to be done with this conversation, wanted to wrap my arms around Edward and never let go. "I never wanted to hurt you," I knew that I had said that already but I wanted to make it clear to him that I had never planned this, could never have planned this even in my wildest dreams.

He started to walk away and then turned back around one last time, "You two deserve each other. I've never met two more pathetic people in my life." He grabbed the door and swung it open forcefully. I could see Edward behind him, waiting anxiously. "She's all yours," Jacob looked at him briefly and then walked to his room and slammed the door closed.

Edward came out into the hall and closed the door behind him. He approached me carefully, I was upset by what happened but more angered by Jacob's reaction. He stopped in front of me, his hands at his side. "Bella?" I had missed hearing him say my voice. Despite the utter mess of everything else around me I was happy that he was right here in front of me. Not willing to wait any longer I flung my arms around him. Without hesitation his arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer. I could feel every inch of him pressed against me and it felt so right. I would never be stupid enough to push him away again.

"Edward, I missed you so much. I was stupid in Greece. I've thought about you every day and I'm so sorry," he put a finger to my lips and shook his head.

"No apologies, we are here now and that is what matters," he moved his head down towards mine and I had trouble breathing as his lips got closer to mine. His lips touched mine softly, he moved back and forth lightly across them, placing delicate kisses all over my lips and face. He wrapped his hands on either side of my face and shifted me so that I was looking up at him, his fingers caressing the strands of hair as they fell back. "You will never get rid of me so easily again," his lips met mine again and this time it wasn't soft and sweet. He was forceful and insistent against me and I opened my mouth under his and tasted him again. I moved my hands up and down his back and his hands mirrored mine.

After what seemed like only seconds we pulled away from each other. I was suddenly very aware that we were standing in the hallway in front of Jacob's room kissing each other. While Jacob had angered me he didn't deserve to have it flaunted in front of his face either.

"We should probably get out of here," we could go back to my dorm I decided. My roommate had yet to spend the night so we would have privacy. I realized that Angela was still waiting outside for me. So much had happened in such a short span of time that it seemed like a lifetime ago that I had first arrived here. I took my phone out of my purse and saw all the missed phone calls. I sent a quick text letting her know that we wouldn't be going and to have a good time and grabbed Edward's hand.

"Let's go back to my place," he squeezed my hand and we made our way out of the dorm. We never let go of each other on the walk back. Neither of us said a word as we walked and yet it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt like this was how it should be.

When we got back to my dorm I let us in and looked around the small space. Our options were either to each sit on a chair at the desks or on the beds which I had pushed together. I moved to the bed and sat down and patted the space next to me. He was by my side in an instant and placed his hand over mine and we just stared at each other, neither of us knowing where to begin. Our time in Greece had been so intense because we knew that each hour that passed brought us closer to saying goodbye forever. Now that we were together again I wondered if everything had been based on the intensity of the situation, if things would still be the same when that element was gone. I looked down at his hand on mine, feeling the warmth of his touch throughout my whole body and realized that what we had was bigger than just Greece.

"I've missed you," there was so much that I wanted to say. I wanted to spend the night talking to him, catching up, touching him. "I don't know where to begin Edward. I realized as soon as my plane was taking off over Greece that I was making a horrible mistake. I wanted to turn around and find you but that wasn't an option. If only I had," he shook his head and I stopped babbling.

"Bella, I am just as guilty as you are. Alice tried over and over again to make me find you. She said she knew what college you were at but I told her not to talk about you, to not bring you up because it was too painful for me. She went from being sympathetic for me to being mad at me. She didn't understand why I wouldn't go and find you if she knew where you were."

"Why wouldn't you?" I blurted it out before I could even think about what I was saying.

"I was respecting your wishes Bella. I wasn't sure how you would react if I just showed up at your doorstep one day." He looked down at our hands, fingers entwined and it all seemed so stupid now. It really didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that he was here in front of me at this moment.

"If you showed up at my doorstep one day I would have never let you leave," I leaned in and kissed him. When our lips touched nothing else mattered anymore, everything was finally as it should be.

_Hope that this chapter makes you all happy! More coming soon and thanks again for reading and reviewing._

_Jaime_


	15. You Complete Me

_A/N – Yes I realize this has taken forever so here you go! It is somewhat long at least so hope that helps._

_Thanks to Tiggrmommi…couldn't do it without you!_

_I do not own._

After we got back to my room we stayed up all night talking. We talked about everything, our first few months at college, our families, what we had been up to. It still didn't seem real so in between words we would steal kisses and our hands had to constantly be in contact with some part or another of each other's body. Sometimes taking what seemed like hours to get back to our conversation. The sun was coming up and I could no longer stop my yawns from coming. Edward stood up as if he was going to leave.

"Please stay." I didn't want to ever have to say goodbye again. He didn't put a fight, just crawled into bed next to me. As the sun came up he wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

I awoke to the feeling of soft kisses covering my face. At first I thought I was dreaming and then I opened my eyes and it all came back to me. He was really here still.

"Good morning," he whispered to me. His warm breath covering my face. I had missed the way his body felt next to mine, the weight of him pressed against me.

"Good morning. I thought it was all a dream." I moved my head up and kissed his lips, moving down along the stubble at his jaw and down his neck where I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent that was unique to him. In the harsh light of day I wondered where we would go from here.

He sighed as my lips explored his neck and moved back to his face. He moved his hands to my face and held my face in place as his lips found mine again. It started off as a soft kiss, exploring each other again but it quickly escalated into more as soon as my mouth opened underneath his. His tongue plunged into my mouth and I moaned as I pressed my body against his. His hands slid from my face and wrapped around my body and down my back as he pulled me closer.

When we broke for air he nuzzled into my neck, a sound of pleasure escaping him. I wasn't sure how far I wanted this to go. In Greece we had existed in a bubble, where real life had ceased to have meaning. Now that we were back together in different circumstances I wanted to take the time to establish a real relationship, to see if we could maintain this on a day to day basis.

"I never thought I would have you in my arms again." He kissed the sensitive skin under my ear and I closed my eyes. His touch brought everything back. That time in Greece that I thought was a once in a lifetime experience. I didn't open my eyes again until his kisses stopped.

"Look at me Bella." I looked into his eyes and was amazed by the tenderness there. "I don't expect to pick up where we left off. I want the chance to do this right. I want to take this slow like we would have done under normal circumstances." He leaned down and kissed me, his lips pressing lightly against mine.

After he pulled his lips away from mine he lifted my hand to his lips. He kissed my open palm and closed his fingers around mine. He leaned against our joined hands and as he lifted his head he noticed the bracelet that he had gotten me that was still on my wrist. He moved my hand around gently as he studied it.

"You still wear it?" He asked. His voice was thick with emotion.

"Of course, it is a reminder of the best time of my life." He kissed me again, a little more forcefully than the time before and we both protested when he pulled away. He kissed the wrist that held the charm bracelet and squeezed me to him, both of us too overwhelmed to say anything else so we just stayed there, holding each other.

We reluctantly got out of bed later in the afternoon. Hand in hand we headed to his room, neither of us looking forward to what awaited us there. We were going to have to deal with Jacob sooner or later though. I felt horrible about the way things had turned out but secure in the fact that I had never led him on. When we got to Edward's place it was empty. Jacob was nowhere to be found.

___It was eerily quiet as we went to Edward's room. At my insistence he packed up some stuff. We both agreed that it would be easier on Jacob if he came to stay with me until a different arrangement could be figured out. I looked around the room and was surprised at how sparse it was. We had been at school for a few months and I would have thought he would have done something to make it look more like a home. _

He must have noticed me looking around because he felt the need to comment.

"I went to class, I studied, I went to bed. That has been the extent of my life lately. I haven't bothered to take the time to make this my home." He finished packing up a bag and came over to me, wrapping his hands around mine. "Now I feel at home."

We walked hand in hand across campus to my place. I knew that this was only a temporary solution but I wasn't sure I would be able to let him go when he found a new living arrangement. It was getting late by the time we got back to my dorm. He put his bag on my bed and we stood there looking at each other.

"Bella, will you go to dinner with me? I'd like to take you on a date." He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it lightly.

"I'd love that." We both moved around the room, getting ready. It felt odd to have him there with me as we got ready for our date. I picked a dress out of my closet and turned my back to him as I slipped it over my head. I was self conscious with him in the room but didn't want to leave. It seemed odd to be shy around him but our time in Greece seemed a lifetime ago and almost as if it weren't real.

I tried to reach down behind me to zip up my dress but even with my body contorted at various angles I couldn't seem to make it work. Edward seemed to notice my plight and he came up behind me.

"Can I help?" I felt his breath against the back of my neck and I nodded. He kissed the bare skin of my back before he moved the zipper slowly up. I was a shivering mass by the time his hands left my body.

"Are you ready?" I turned towards him and he took my hand in his and led me out the door.

We walked to the parking garage where his car was. He opened my door for me and drove away from campus. He drove to a small Chinese restaurant that I wasn't aware existed and as we sat across from each other I felt my nervousness disappear. We picked up where we had left off in Greece. Our conversation flowed and when we weren't eating we were holding hands as we talked.

At the end of the night we decided against doing anything else. It had been a long draining weekend and we were both exhausted. We walked together to my door and he took the key from my hands and unlocked it for me, holding it open while I walked through.

He closed the door and we stood in the middle of the room staring at each other. The feeling of uncertainty returned.

"Thank you for tonight. I had a wonderful time." He moved closer to me, his hand reaching out to touch my cheek. I leaned into his hand, relishing the fact that he was really here.

"I did too. Thank you for taking…" I didn't get to finish as his lips found mine. I fell into his body as his lips moved insistently against mine. We moved backwards together, only stopping as we hit the bed. I sat down on the bed and pulled him down next to me. We lay side by side; kissing until we were breathless but even when we were forced to pull away he trailed his lips up and down my neck, across my cheeks and up to my nose.

"You have no idea how much I missed you. I never thought I would have the chance to see you again." He moved his lips down my collarbone and I could feel my skin flush with warmth at the path he left across me.

His lips came back to mine and I opened my mouth beneath his and savored the taste and feeling of his tongue inside my mouth. I moaned as I moved closer to him, my hands moving along his back trying to bring him closer than was even possible. We pulled away from each other and he leaned his forehead against mine, each of us trying to regain our breath.

"Why don't you get ready for bed?" He said the words but didn't release me from his arms. It was as if we were both worried that if we let go we might be letting go forever. Eventually he let me wiggle out of his grasp and I rushed to the bathroom down the hall and brushed my teeth and washed my face. When I returned to the room I found that he had changed into a white t shirt and flannel pajama bottoms. I felt overdressed since I was still in my dress.

"Here let me help you get that off." He walked over to me and pushed my hair aside to get to my zipper. I shivered as his hands moved it slowly down. His hands moved under the fabric and caressed my shoulders as he pushed the dress down to the floor. He stood back, admiring my body, taking everything in. I felt self conscious but I didn't try to cover myself. "Beautiful," he whispered.

He found my pajamas at the end of my bed and handed them to me. I was confused and my eyes searched his.

"I promised you we would take this slow and I meant it. I want nothing more than to get in that bed with you and never get out but I want more than that with you. You deserve more than that." My mind knew that what he said made sense but my body was in denial.

Taking a deep breath I pulled my pajamas on and got into bed. Edward crawled in after me and pulled me to him. I turned to face him and gave him a goodnight kiss. He used his hands to pull me closer as our lips met. We both pulled away before things got out of hand and I turned back around, curling into his body. His arms held me tightly and we both drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I knew it was time to face reality. We both had classes to get to and I had Jacob to contend with. I wasn't sure if he would even show up to class, I knew that I didn't even want to be there, didn't want to face him but it wasn't something that could be avoided. He deserved some answers; regardless of how he had reacted on Saturday night he was still my friend, even if he didn't see that.

Edward walked me to my first class and kissed me lightly before bidding me farewell. He offered to meet me before Chemistry but this was something I had to face alone.

"I'll be okay. I just hope that he shows up." He squeezed my hand one last time before walking away. I watched him for as long as I could before heading to class. The first part of my day was uneventful and I found it difficult to concentrate. My mind kept drifting back to Edward and Jacob. How could one person make me so happy while destroying someone who I cared a great deal about? I tried to think of a way in which I could have them both in my life but it seemed impossible to me and if pressed I knew who I couldn't live without.

I was a mass of nerves by the time I walked into chemistry class. Jacob was already waiting there but didn't look up as I sat down next to him.

"Jacob?" He didn't even acknowledge me as I sat down and tried to talk to him. I put my hand on his shoulder and he flinched away as if my touch had burnt him.

Class started and he ignored me completely, walking away quickly as soon as it was over. I had to run to catch up with him but finally I did, holding on tightly to his arm I begged him to stop and talk to me.

"What could you possibly want Bella?" I was taken aback by the hurt and anger in his eyes, he was always so happy that to see him like this was out of place and sad.

"I never meant to hurt you Jacob. I want to be friends still." He threw his head back and laughed.

"Well wouldn't that be convenient for you? You get the best of both worlds don't you? Two men who love you, if he leaves you again you have a backup." His angry words from Saturday came back to me. I had hoped that time would lessen his anger but I was wrong.

"He didn't leave me and I don't want you as a back up, I want you as a friend. That was all I had ever wanted Jacob and I am sorry if I led you to believe otherwise. I was hoping that we could find a way to still be friends." He shook his head.

"You betrayed my friendship Bella. I can't believe you would be stupid enough to believe that you could have it all." He shook his head, as if amazed at my stupidity.

"I am stupid Jacob. Stupid for ever thinking that you cared about me enough to want me happy. You're so angry over some perceived slight. Even if Edward hadn't showed up, even if I had never seen him again I would have been settling if I chose you and that wouldn't have been fair to either of us. You deserve better than that Jacob."

"Maybe I would have been okay with that Bella." He looked so sad that I reached out and touched his cheek.

"That isn't fair to you though Jacob. One day you will understand." He looked at me as if he would never understand, would never get over this.

"I doubt it. Tell Edward to be out of his room by the end of the day. I will stay away and you two can begin your happy life together." With that he turned and walked away. I watched him, sad at what had transpired but I felt better knowing that I had tried. One day he would be happy and I would just be a distant memory.

He never returned to class after that day. Edward and I had gone back to their place later on that day and packed everything up. Jacob was true to his word and we didn't see him at all. Edward found an apartment the following week and on his first night there he invited me over for dinner.

He looked frazzled as he answered the door, a kitchen towel flung over his shoulder. He kissed me quickly on the forehead and ran back to the kitchen. I could hear pots and pans clanging around and I followed him inside.

There was sauce splattered across the counter, a noodle stuck to the wall and what smelled like garlic bread burning in the oven.

"Not used to cooking?" I tried to hide my laughter as he threw another noodle against the wall, trying to test the doneness of it.

"Is it that obvious?" The pot containing the spaghetti sauce bubbled violently and I came to his side and turned it down while searching for a spoon with which to stir it. I opened up the oven after I had the sauce under control and removed what used to be bread. The smoking loaf set off the smoke detector and Edward stood underneath it waving a towel around frantically while I moved the pan outside to cool down.

Amid the shrieking of the detector, the smoke filled apartment and the mess of the kitchen we both broke out in laughter.

When we regained composure Edward turned off all the burners and headed to the front room. He had just one couch and we went to it and sat down together.

"Well that didn't go as planned. I intended to dazzle you with my cooking skills." He looked disappointed and I started laughing again.

"Oh you dazzled me alright. Thanks for the thought though. Take out?" He smiled at me and shook his head.

"Nope, tonight was supposed to be special. I'm taking you out to dinner. " He went to the kitchen and double checked that everything was off and I put my jacket back on. We sidestepped the still smoking bread and went to his car.

Dinner was wonderful. Neither of us was in the mood for Italian anymore so we went to a small steakhouse and ate. After dinner we walked hand in hand up to his apartment. We went back to the couch and cuddled together as we watched television.

"Will you stay tonight? I've gotten used to falling asleep next to you." He asked as he ran his fingers through my hair. I was about to fall asleep on the couch and I knew that it was unlikely that I would be able to fall asleep without him by my side so I agreed. He led me to his room and I couldn't help but notice the large bed that dominated the room.

He said nothing as I looked around the room. He just held my hand and waited for my reaction. I turned to him and got on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. I pulled my hand from his and wrapped my arms around his back. He immediately did the same and pulled me closer into his body. I moaned into his mouth as our kiss deepened.

I slid my hands up under his shirt, wanting and needing to feel more of him. Without moving his lips from mine he lifted me up effortlessly and moved me to the bed. He pulled away from me and moved to my side.

"Bella." His voice was barely a whisper. "I want to take things slow. I want to show you the respect that you deserve." He moved his hand slowly to my hip, rubbing it back and forth. Moving his lips back to mine he continued to trace my body with his hand as he kissed me. He moved his hand behind my leg and brought it up over his thigh.

My heart raced as I moved my hands to his hair, pulling him closer to me. I understood and even appreciated his desire to take things slow but if he thought that I might change my mind about wanting him now that we lived in close proximity to each other he was wrong. Nothing had changed my feelings for him and in fact I felt even more drawn to him now. I couldn't imagine my life being complete without him in it.

"I think that we should stop." His voice sounded pained as once again pulled away.

"I think that you need to stop thinking. I want you Edward. I've missed you and I know that you aren't using me." As I spoke I kissed his face, moving back and forth across it before moving down his neck. I began to unbutton his shirt, he tried to stop me but I pushed his hands away. "Please Edward, stop thinking, just feel."

He didn't question me again. He helped to get his shirt off and took his time as I raised my arms in removing mine. Moving slowly he kissed his way down my bare skin. He reached behind my back and unhooked my bra, slowly moving it down my arms.

My body shivered in anticipation. Would it be everything that I had remembered? Would there be pain again? I wanted him so much that none of it mattered. All that mattered was that he was here with me and I never planned on letting him go again.

His lips closed around my breast and my body arched into his. My hands blindly searched for his pants as my body needed more of him immediately. He moved his hands to mine and pushed them away.

"We have nothing but time Bella. For once there are no planes to catch, no family to meet, we have the whole weekend." He pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed every finger, lingering over each one. We may have had all the time in the world but I wasn't sure how long I could actually wait.

We spent the night relearning each other's bodies. It was everything that I had remembered but even better now because I knew that I wasn't going to have to say goodbye anytime soon. As we ended the night wrapped in each other's arms I could barely keep my eyes open. As I cuddled in closer to him he kissed the top of my head and I could have sworn I heard him whisper the words _I love you_ as I fell asleep.

_Thanks for reading and letting me know what you think. I promise to not take so long with the next chapter._

_Jaime_


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